A new publication of ours in now out in The African Technopolitan.
Graham, M., and Foster, C. 2016. Geographies of Information Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa, The African Technopolitan. 5 78-85.
The piece draws on some of our previous empirical research to reflect on what connectivity means to inclusion in the ‘network society.’ Connectivity certainly isn’t a sufficient condition for inclusion and equity, and we need to ask whether it is a necessary one.
Connectivity, rather, tends to be an amplifier: one that often reinforces rather than reduces inequality. We therefore need to move towards deeper critical socio-economic interrogations of the barriers or structures that limit activity and reproduce digital inequality. The categorisations developed in the paper offer an empirically-driven and systematic way to understand these barriers in more detail.
Cross-posted from Geonet: Investigating the Changing Connectivities and Potentials of Sub-Saharan Africa’s Knowledge Economy
