This edited volume focuses on mobile phone use in specific African communities, namely those that have a long history of mobility and are regarded as marginal in the national economic, social and... Show moreThis edited volume focuses on mobile phone use in specific African communities, namely those that have a long history of mobility and are regarded as marginal in the national economic, social and/or political context. It was in such regions that the most intensive dynamics were expected to be seen following the introduction of the mobile phone. Contributions: Introduction: mobile margins and the dynamics of communication (Mirjam de Bruijn, Inge Brinkman and Francis Nyamnjoh); Mobilit‚ et moyens de communication au Gu‚ra (Chad) (Djimet Seli); La connexion des marges: marginalit‚ politique et technologie de d‚senclavement en Basse Casamance (Sud du S‚n‚gal) (Fatima Diallo); 'Angola my country, Cape Town my home': a young migrant's journey of social becoming and belonging (Imke Gooskens); Transnational migration and marginality: Nigerian migrants in anglophone Cameroon (Tangie Nsoh Fonchingong); Les femmes hadjaraye du Gu‚ra … l'‚cole de l'alphab‚tisation (Khalil Alio); From foot messengers to cell phones: communication in Kom, Cameroon, c. 1916-1998 (Walter Gam Nkwi); Grandeur ou misŠres des cabines t‚l‚phoniques priv‚es et publiques au Mali (Naffet Ke‹ta); Informationandcommunication technology and its impact on transnational migration: the case of Senegalese boat migrants (Henrietta Nyamnjoh); Identities of place: mobile naming practices and social landscapes in Sudan (Siri Lamoureux). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
The studies in this volume are the result of research carried out by students of the Research Masters in African Studies (RMAS) at Leiden University who graduated in 2008. The studies cover such... Show moreThe studies in this volume are the result of research carried out by students of the Research Masters in African Studies (RMAS) at Leiden University who graduated in 2008. The studies cover such areas as conflict, democracy, migration, urban and rural studies, language, communication and youth. An introduction by Mirjam de Bruijn, RMAS director, and Daniela Merolla, RMAS academic coordinator from 2006-2009, is followed by eight contributions: Facilitating return: notions of conflict and peace in ending internal displacement in northern Uganda (Hilde Kroes); Political parties and intra-party democracy in East Afria: considerations for democratic consolidation (Josh Maiyo); How the youth of Soweto have turned language into a transformable object in the context of a changing society (Pierre Aycard); How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: the position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura [Burundi] (Lianne Belt); Peer groups and human anchorage: girl-migrants making it work in N'Djamena, Chad (Jonna Both); Recycling gifts: ritual and money in present-day 'tonw' in Bancoumana [Mali] (Esther Khn); Negotiating insecurity through mobile telephony in Buea, Cameroon (Barbara Tah Gwanmesia); Challenges for ethnographic research in fragile situations: research among youth in post-war Burundi (Lidewyde H. Berckmoes). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less