STS in Africa

Twagira, Laura Ann. 2015. “Interrogating the ‘Machine’ and Women’s Things.” Technology’s Stories, September.

AO: This 2015 blog post by Laura Ann Twagira looks at the role of Western machines in Malian society and their meanings for women and touches on questions about how gender and technology are studied, women as users of technology, and their role in designing technological systems.Read more

Mutuku, Leonida and Mahihu, Christine. 2014. "Open Data in Developing Countries." Final Report. iHub Research.

AO: The Open Data in Developing Countries Project run by iHub Research set out to understand initial impacts of the Kenya Open Data Initiative (which was launched in 2011). The study found that three years after the launch of the data initiative, there has not been substantial documentation of...Read more

Coban, Alev. 2018. “Making Hardware in Nairobi: Between Revolutionary Practices and Restricting Imaginations.” The Journal of Peer Production, no. 12 (July).

AO: In this 2018 paper by Alev Coban, she finds that despite the seemingly radical potential of technology "making" in the global South to shift global asymmetries of power, postcolonial power asymmetries persist in relations between Western investors and start-ups/makers, structured by a tech-...Read more

Rhoda Omenya on iHub Research origins

What do you think was unique about the type of work that iHub Research conducted?

The tech scene in Kenya came to life I believe from 2010 when techies in Kenya had a space to come together and do great stuff as opposed to working as lone wolves (cue the 'alone I go faster,...Read more

4S 2018 Poster: Michel Wahome

This poster series was created as part of STS IN "AFRICA" IN FORMATION, an STS Across Borders gallery collection at the 4S 2018 annual meeting in Sydney, Australia. All posters in the STS in Africa poster series can be found ...Read more

STS in "Africa" Extended Narrative

Scholars working on Science and Technology in Africa have worked on a wide range of projects related to cultural astronomy ( Holbrook ; ...Read more

Black Suns: An Astrophysics Adventure (2017).

Synopsis: " BLACK SUNS: AN ASTROPHYSICS ADVENTURE is a documentary about chasing eclipses and science dreams. It chronicles the lives of two globetrotting African American astrophysicists, Dr. Alphonse Sterling and Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, as they follow the two solar eclipses that...Read more

Breckenridge, Keith. 2014. Biometric State: The Global Politics of Identification and Surveillance in South Africa, 1850 to the Present. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Abstract: " A groundbreaking study of South Africa's role as a site for global experiments in biometric identification throughout the twentieth century." Read more

Blog post: "LES FABLABS EN AFRIQUE : UNE UTOPIE À L’ÉPREUVE DES RÉALITÉS LOCALES"

AO: This blog post by Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou reflects on some of the rich discussions that took place from May 6 - 10, 2018 in Dakar, Senegal on the theme: "Non-aligned Utopias: Digital Imaginaries." During the panel discussion, representatives of fab...Read more

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