I have published a short piece The Conversation that summarises some work that I carried out with two colleagues (Casper Andersen and Laura Mann) on visions of connectivity in East Africa, and why they matter. The article follows how the arrival of railways and broadband were framed by powerful figures, and shows how those narratives have supported the colonial and neoliberal projects. You can access the piece here. Or check out the longer article that it comes from:
Graham, M., Andersen, C., and Mann, L. 2015. Geographies of Connectivity in East Africa: Trains, Telecommunications, and Technological Teleologies. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (forthcoming).
Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
By using surveys, interviews and in-depth observations, this project examined the expectations and stated potentials of broadband Internet in East Africa and compared those expectations to on-the-ground effects that broadband connectivity is having.
