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Auteur Michaël Bratton |
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Briefing / Michaël Bratton in African Affairs, Vol. 112/447 (2013)
[article]
Titre : Briefing : Citizens and cell phones in Africa Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Michaël Bratton, Auteur Année de publication : 2013 Article en page(s) : 304-319 Langues : Anglais (eng) Résumé :
This briefing explores some political implications of the current boom in information and communications technology (ICT) in sub-Saharan Africa. As a striking manifestation of globalization, perhaps half of Africa's one billion people are now signed up as subscribers to cellular telephone networks.1 Africans are enthusiastically adopting mobile phone technology, here called ‘cell’ phones. By foregoing landlines in favour of advanced telecom systems, their choices of technology are leapfrogging over other parts of the world.
Evidence is mounting that this modern communications revolution is beginning to have promising economic consequences.2 In Uganda, for example, small farmers are able to check crop prices and order agricultural inputs by making phone calls or sending text messages over cellular networks. In certain pilot projects they are able to obtain customized extension advice and even gain access to microfinance loans.3
Inevitably, social and cultural changes follow, not all of them positive. It seems likely, for instance, that an opportunity gap might emerge between those who possess cell phones and those who do not.4 Household expenditures on communications might also crowd out other, more urgent social needs.5 Moreover, as smart phones with Internet capability catch on in places like South Africa and Kenya, users are exposed to a diverse array of cosmopolitan fashions and ideas, whose cumulative effect is to challenge traditional social values, sometimes provoking a backlash. In Ethiopia, for example, cell-phone communications have stimulated monitoring and controlling behaviours on the part of husbands and wives, straining marital relations.6
But are there political correlates of technological change? Is there a connection between the use of cell phones on the one hand and democratic citizenship on the other? Are cell-phone users more knowledgeable, active, tolerant, and trusting about politics than other citizens in Africa? Or do new technologies have …
in African Affairs > Vol. 112/447 (2013) . - 304-319[article] Briefing : Citizens and cell phones in Africa [texte imprimé] / Michaël Bratton, Auteur . - 2013 . - 304-319.
Langues : Anglais (eng)
in African Affairs > Vol. 112/447 (2013) . - 304-319
Résumé :
This briefing explores some political implications of the current boom in information and communications technology (ICT) in sub-Saharan Africa. As a striking manifestation of globalization, perhaps half of Africa's one billion people are now signed up as subscribers to cellular telephone networks.1 Africans are enthusiastically adopting mobile phone technology, here called ‘cell’ phones. By foregoing landlines in favour of advanced telecom systems, their choices of technology are leapfrogging over other parts of the world.
Evidence is mounting that this modern communications revolution is beginning to have promising economic consequences.2 In Uganda, for example, small farmers are able to check crop prices and order agricultural inputs by making phone calls or sending text messages over cellular networks. In certain pilot projects they are able to obtain customized extension advice and even gain access to microfinance loans.3
Inevitably, social and cultural changes follow, not all of them positive. It seems likely, for instance, that an opportunity gap might emerge between those who possess cell phones and those who do not.4 Household expenditures on communications might also crowd out other, more urgent social needs.5 Moreover, as smart phones with Internet capability catch on in places like South Africa and Kenya, users are exposed to a diverse array of cosmopolitan fashions and ideas, whose cumulative effect is to challenge traditional social values, sometimes provoking a backlash. In Ethiopia, for example, cell-phone communications have stimulated monitoring and controlling behaviours on the part of husbands and wives, straining marital relations.6
But are there political correlates of technological change? Is there a connection between the use of cell phones on the one hand and democratic citizenship on the other? Are cell-phone users more knowledgeable, active, tolerant, and trusting about politics than other citizens in Africa? Or do new technologies have …Popular Reactions to State Repression / Michaël Bratton in African Affairs, Vol. 106/422 (2007)
[article]
Titre : Popular Reactions to State Repression : Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Michaël Bratton, Auteur ; Eldred Masunungure, Auteur Année de publication : 2007 Article en page(s) : pp. 21-45. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Repression Réaction Population Résumé : In May 2005, the government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina (OM), a state-sponsored campaign to stifle independent economic and political activity in the country’s urban areas. This article employs a national probability sample survey to analyse the popular reactions of ordinary Zimbabweans to this landmark event. It shows that the application of state repression succeeds at some goals, fails at others, and has powerful unintended effects. We report that the scope of OM was wide and that the main victims of OM were younger, unemployed families whom state security agents saw as potential recruits for social unrest. Whereas OM undoubtedly disrupted the informal economy, we show that it did not succeed in banishing urban dwellers to rural areas or permanently shutting down illicit trade. Moreover, the crackdown thoroughly discredited the police and other state institutions. We also demonstrate that state repression emboldened its victims, deepening polarisation between political parties and fortifying the ranks of Zimbabwe’s opposition movement.
in African Affairs > Vol. 106/422 (2007) . - pp. 21-45.[article] Popular Reactions to State Repression : Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe [texte imprimé] / Michaël Bratton, Auteur ; Eldred Masunungure, Auteur . - 2007 . - pp. 21-45.
Langues : Anglais (eng)
in African Affairs > Vol. 106/422 (2007) . - pp. 21-45.
Mots-clés : Repression Réaction Population Résumé : In May 2005, the government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina (OM), a state-sponsored campaign to stifle independent economic and political activity in the country’s urban areas. This article employs a national probability sample survey to analyse the popular reactions of ordinary Zimbabweans to this landmark event. It shows that the application of state repression succeeds at some goals, fails at others, and has powerful unintended effects. We report that the scope of OM was wide and that the main victims of OM were younger, unemployed families whom state security agents saw as potential recruits for social unrest. Whereas OM undoubtedly disrupted the informal economy, we show that it did not succeed in banishing urban dwellers to rural areas or permanently shutting down illicit trade. Moreover, the crackdown thoroughly discredited the police and other state institutions. We also demonstrate that state repression emboldened its victims, deepening polarisation between political parties and fortifying the ranks of Zimbabwe’s opposition movement.