YOUTH AND DIGITAL CULTURES IN URBAN AFRICA
Convenors: Rike Sitas (African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town), Nokukhanya Mncwabe (African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town)
Track: Alternative Futures
Keywords: Youth, Digital Cities, Technofeminism, Queer Studies, Creative Methods in Urban Research
Friday October 25, 9:00–10:30, New Seminar Room, John Moffat Building
SESSION 24
YOUTH AND DIGITAL CULTURES IN URBAN AFRICA
African cities are growing younger and youth are tech savvy in unprecedented ways. Technologies fundamentally shape urban life, from large-scale ICT infrastructure to mobile phones in back pockets. The ways in which young people shape their lives is increasingly mediated by technology. Young people are coordinating their work (formal jobs and informal hustles alike), arranging their social and cultural lives, and organising their political activities through various digital platforms, within digitised industries, and enabled by emergent technologies - some borrowed, some made, some tinkered with. Technology also plays a role in urban surveillance, in some cases more dangerous than others, depending on who you are and where you live. In order to unpack these socio-technical relations, this session invites contributions from scholars and/or practitioners working at the intersection of youth, digital cultures and African cities.
We are particularly interested in exploring how creative practice (mapping, visual arts, music, serious gaming etc), and techno-feminist and queer approaches to southern urban technological and youth studies are invigorating a field that is often dominated by techno-optimist or techno-pessimist extremes.
This session asks:
- How are young people organising urban life (socially, culturally, politically, economically, etc) through technology?
- How can socio-technical studies from the global South challenge and enliven digital cities discourses?
- How can techno-feminist and queer approaches invigorate urban theory and practice?
- In what ways can creative methods offer more meaningful insight into digital life in urban Africa?
Presentations
Counter-mapping corners of the South: Lessons for Southern theorisation
Counter-mapping has been practiced globally as a method, tool, and practice of insurgency, organising, storytelling, and ultimately queering narratives around the ontology of mapping. The practice can be observed globally, often through participatory practices, collaboration, and co-production to amplify and assert citizen’s rights from the Mapa de Saberes (Map of Knowledge) in the Colombian Amazon to the People’s Land Map by Ndifuna Ukwazi in Cape Town...
"Digital Tapestries of Black Music Urbanism: Mapping Umlazi’s Soundscapes Through Gqom Music Technologies & Spatial Economies"
Music is created by communities, but it also creates communities. Dance music culture has been one of the greatest exports to come out of eThekwini (Durban) townships and has had a significant socioeconomic, political, and cultural impact on South Africa and Southern Africa at large. Gqom, an electronic dance music sound originating in eThekwini, has created a community of artists, producers, dancers, and fashion stylists. Through Gqom, young creatives in eThekwini and beyond have discovered alternative strategies of survival within their marginalised communities...
Unemployment, hustling and waithood: Exploring Zimbabwean urban make youth’s utilisation of ICT in soccer betting
This paper delves into the phenomenon of soccer betting among urban male youth in Zimbabwe, who have increasingly come to rely on it to make ends meet in the face of rapid urbanisation and economic challenges. The study adopts ethnographic methods, including participant and non-participant observations, informal conversations, and betting experimentation, to shed light on this emerging trend. The research uncovers that young Zimbabwean men employ their skills and knowledge, such as research, networking, and their understanding of soccer betting, to boost their earnings through informal economic activities...
Digital Fashion and the Urban Youth in Nairobi: G-string as a space for erotic and sexual imagination
The landscape of urban fashion in Nairobi, Kenya, is rapidly evolving, driven by digital platforms and influenced by celebrities, musicians, and social media influencers. Among the emerging trends, is the G-string- a tiny piece of lingerie that leaves little to the imagination that has increasingly become a symbol of seduction and sensuality in modern times. The popularity of G-string fashion stands out as a space for erotic and sexual imagination among urban youth. This paper argues that the convergence of digital technology and globalized consumer culture is reshaping social and economic dynamics in African urban centers, leading to the emergence of new forms of romance and altering traditional sexualities...
The impact of social media on the digital footprints of young people in the African context: a case of Harare: Zimbabwe
Historically, mental health in African health systems and development policies has been sidelined due to a myriad reasons. The impacts of mental health are far-reaching, and much has been learned; however, far more remains unknown, particulately the conceptualization of mental health issues confronting African youth in the digital era, notwithstanding social media being an integral part of daily life in the region. Human advancement is behind the explosion in the use of technological gadgets and the internet. As the dividends of modernity unfold, young people have been the frontrunners in using the web and internt-based platforms that allow people to connect with others on virtual social networks...
Platform urbanism in Cape Town: legacy capital seeking new frontiers
This paper explores the geography of capital in Cape Town, focussing on the role of fintech and digital technology platforms. Fintech involves both the technological innovations in old, opaque financial services of credit and insurance as well as new experimentation through mobile money, online payments and cryptocurrency, leading to a proliferation of digital platforms and new corollaries of platform urbanism. One of the dominant narratives associated with Fintech innovations is its disruptive effect on old financial architectures that have been historically been challenging to penetrate, particularly by young people...
