ABSTRACT

Digital inequalities in Africa have been explored in terms of dimensions such as gender, age, education, socio-economic status, language, ability/disability etc. In the present study, we draw on qualitative research emphasising digital differences within Dwesa, a rural community on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For the past decade and a half, this has been the site of extensive ethnographic and ICT-for-development research highlighting complex and nuanced social arrangements, social stratification and local power dynamics. Mobile communication and media appear to either entrench or challenge the status quo, e.g., by strengthening the bond with community members who migrated to urban areas, by disrupting cultural norms or by opening up work and education opportunities. Mobile digital access, use and benefits are unevenly distributed within the community. Teachers and local business people tend to be early adopters and use phones extensively for work-related purposes and to maintain contacts outside the community. The youth appear to be the most sophisticated and frequent users of social media to organise events and meet new people. Somewhat surprisingly, mature women provide some of the most innovative examples of collaboration and empowerment. People of all ages, genders and socio-economic backgrounds recognise the disruptive potential, costs and limitations of digital technology and some deliberately limit themselves to voice calls. Our findings problematise a view of rural African communities as digitally homogeneous and provide some examples of how actual experiences in the Global South challenge expectations based on research from the Global North.

抽象的

已经在诸如性别，年龄，教育，社会经济地位，语言，能力/残疾等方面对非洲的数字不平等进行了探索。在本研究中，我们利用定性研究，强调农村社区德维萨内部的数字差异。在南非东开普省的狂野海岸上。在过去的十五年中，这里一直是广泛的人种学和ICT促进发展研究的场所，着重研究复杂而细微的社会安排，社会分层和地方权力动态。移动通信和媒体似乎在巩固或挑战现状，例如，通过加强与移居城市的社区成员之间的联系，破坏文化规范或开放工作和教育机会，来增强现状或挑战现状。移动数字访问 使用和收益在社区内分布不均。老师和当地商人往往是早期采用者，并广泛使用电话来实现与工作相关的目的并与社区外部保持联系。年轻人似乎是社交媒体组织活动和结识新朋友的最老练和最频繁的用户。令人惊讶的是，成年女性提供了一些最具创新性的合作与赋权实例。所有年龄，性别和社会经济背景的人都认识到数字技术的破坏性潜力，成本和局限性，有些人故意将自己限制在语音通话范围内。