Sociality Revisited? The Use of the Internet and Mobile Phones in Urban Cameroon

Sociality Revisited? The Use of the Internet and Mobile Phones in Urban Cameroon PDF Author: Bettina Anja Frei
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9956728411
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
This book draws on the perspectives of non-migrants and urban youth in Bamenda, in the Northwest region of Cameroon, as well as on the views of Cameroonian migrants in Switzerland, to explore the meaning and role of New Media in the negotiation of sociality in transnational migration. New Media facilitated connectedness serve as a privileged lens through which Cameroonians, home and away, scrutinise and mediate sociality. In this rich ethnography, Bettina Frei describes how the internet and mobile phones are adopted by migrants and their non-migrant counterparts in order to maintain transnational relationships, and how the specific medialities of these communication technologies in turn impact on transnational sociality. Contrary to popular presumptions that New Media are experienced as mainly connecting and enabling, this study reveals that in a transnational context in particular, New Media serve to mediate tensions in transnational social ties. The expectations of being connected go hand in hand with an awareness of social and geographical distance and separation.

Sociality Revisited? The Use of the Internet and Mobile Phones in Urban Cameroon

Sociality Revisited? The Use of the Internet and Mobile Phones in Urban Cameroon PDF Author: Bettina Anja Frei
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9956728411
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
This book draws on the perspectives of non-migrants and urban youth in Bamenda, in the Northwest region of Cameroon, as well as on the views of Cameroonian migrants in Switzerland, to explore the meaning and role of New Media in the negotiation of sociality in transnational migration. New Media facilitated connectedness serve as a privileged lens through which Cameroonians, home and away, scrutinise and mediate sociality. In this rich ethnography, Bettina Frei describes how the internet and mobile phones are adopted by migrants and their non-migrant counterparts in order to maintain transnational relationships, and how the specific medialities of these communication technologies in turn impact on transnational sociality. Contrary to popular presumptions that New Media are experienced as mainly connecting and enabling, this study reveals that in a transnational context in particular, New Media serve to mediate tensions in transnational social ties. The expectations of being connected go hand in hand with an awareness of social and geographical distance and separation.

Urban Life-Worlds in Motion

Urban Life-Worlds in Motion PDF Author: Hans Peter Hahn
Publisher: transcript Verlag
ISBN: 3839420229
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
Urban agglomerations host the most vital and creative societies. This applies particularly to Africa, where cities have the highest growth rates world-wide and where the urban population is younger than anywhere else. Urban life-worlds are the basis for the development of new lifestyles and new cultural phenomena. Based on empirical ethnographic research, this book presents case studies that enhance our understanding of the dynamics of urbanity in Africa and beyond - by envisioning cities as crossroads where cultures, biographies and networks meet.

Being Available and Reachable

Being Available and Reachable PDF Author: Mbeanwoah Tazanu
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9956727229
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
The book investigates what have become of Cameroonian transnational family and friendship ties in the age of the mobile phone and the internet that make people readily available and reachable. Most theoretical literature states that these tools of sociality cement transnational social relationships through instantaneous interaction. To capture the different experiences and impressions on the significance of these media in easing communication for migrants and non-migrants, Tazanu draws on ethnographic accounts based on his fieldwork in Freiburg (Germany) and Buea (Cameroon). He argues that it is mainly the migrants who maintain or are expected to maintain ties with non-migrants back in Cameroon through calls and material support. The main finding of the study is that cell phones and the internet have facilitated discontents, grudges, insults, fights, avoidance, arguments and estrangement of relationships much more than they have contributed to binding friends or families through direct mediation. Underlying these aspects of distanciation are the high expectations and sometimes contradictory motives for instant virtual interaction. Non-migrants accounts suggest that direct availability and reachability should lead to uninterrupted transnational interaction and also that the cultural practices of remittances from migrants are easily requested and coordinated. Such motives are generally contrary to migrants wishes, willingness or ability to support friends and families in Cameroon. These unexpected outcomes arising from rapid speed of interaction questions the advantages that are often associated with instant sociality across space and time. The finding is a call for the cultural background and life-world experiences of media users to be taken into consideration when theorising the significance of information technology in the debate on media globalisation.

Regimes of Mobility

Regimes of Mobility PDF Author: Noel Salazar
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317747259
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Mobility studies emerged from a postmodern moment in which global ‘flows’ of capital, people and objects were increasingly noted and celebrated. Within this new scholarship, categories of migrancy are all seen through the same analytical lens. This book builds on, as well as critiques, past and present studies of mobility. In so doing, it challenges conceptual orientations built on binaries of difference that have impeded analyses of the interrelationship between mobility and stasis. These include methodological nationalism, which counterpoises concepts of internal and international movement and native and foreigner, and consequently normalises stasis. Instead, the book proposes a ‘regimes of mobility’ framework that addresses the relationships between mobility and immobility, localisation and transnational connection, experiences and imaginaries of migration, and rootedness and cosmopolitan openness. Within this framework and its emphasis on social fields of differential power, the various contributors to this collection ethnographically explore the disparities, inequalities, racialised representations and national mythscapes that facilitate and legitimate differential mobility and fixity. Although they examine nation-state building processes, the anthropological analysis is not confined by national boundaries. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

The African Book Publishing Record

The African Book Publishing Record PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description


Me and My Cell Phone

Me and My Cell Phone PDF Author: Crystal Powell
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9956727148
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Kindled by her own intimate history with her cell phone and a growing curiosity about information and communication technologies in general, Powell discusses her thoughts, reactions to and interpretations of some of the literature on these technologies. She draws on and reviews contributions by some authors on the social shaping of ICTs and social media to offer a more complete understanding of technology in relation to those who use and are used by it. From publisher description.

Digital Youth

Digital Youth PDF Author: Kaveri Subrahmanyam
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441962786
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Youth around the world are fittingly described as digital natives because of their comfort and skill with technological hardware and content. Recent studies indicate that an overwhelming majority of children and teenagers use the Internet, cell phones, and other mobile devices. Equipped with familiarity and unprecedented access, it is no wonder that adolescents consume, create, and share copious amounts of content. But is there a cost? Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development recognizes the important role of digital tools in the lives of teenagers and presents both the risks and benefits of these new interactive technologies. From social networking to instant messaging to text messaging, the authors create an informative and relevant guidebook that goes beyond description to include developmental theory and implications. Also woven throughout the book is an international sensitivity and understanding that clarifies how, despite the widespread popularity of digital communication, technology use varies between groups globally. Other specific topics addressed include: Sexuality on the Internet. Online identity and self-presentation. Morality, ethics, and civic engagement. Technology and health. Violence, cyberbullying, and victimization. Excessive Internet use and addictive behavior. This comprehensive volume is a must-have reference for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students across such disciplines as developmental/clinical child/school psychology, social psychology, media psychology, medical and allied health professions, education, and social work.

Mobilities, ICTs and Marginality in Africa

Mobilities, ICTs and Marginality in Africa PDF Author: Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780796925169
Category : Cell phones
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Mobility has become a prominent feature in African societies. Populations all over Africa are both mobile and politically and economically marginal. Yet these populations are actively engaged in maintaining social networks across localities. Mobilities, ICTs and marginality in Africa looks at the dramatic changes brought about in socially marginal populations by new ICTs in general and mobile phones in particular. The book aims to situate the cultural, social and, in some cases, transnational context of ICT appropriation and virtual connectivity so as to reposition Africans from various countries and contexts as active agents of social change. The intricacies of local ICT use and the dynamics of mobility in the African context enables us to better understand material cultures, relationships between people, new media and social networking. Equally explored in relation to ICTs are the social and spatial dynamics of communication, association and belonging across spaces - particularly physical borders, social boundaries and confines and possibilities informed by the habits of bodies and practices. Mobilities, ICTs and marginality in Africa is rich in theoretically informed case studies that lend themselves to comparative perspectives and to ethnographies from beyond Africa.

Africa's ICT Infrastructure

Africa's ICT Infrastructure PDF Author: Vivien Foster
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821384546
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Africa's ICT Infrastructure reviews how the investment in the sector has been financed and how the structure of the market has changed since the liberalization process started. It looks at the role of both private and public institutions as sources of financing for the sector and charts the emergence of investors from developing countries in leading the expansion of the sector across the region. --

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 6)

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 6) PDF Author: King K. Holmes
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464805253
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 1027

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Book Description
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.