Civic Engagement, Digital Networks, and Political Reform in Africa

Interest in the relationship between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the context of electoral and change politics in Africa has intensified recently among donors, scholars, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). This book takes a critical look at claims, developments and initiatives linking CSOs, new media, and democracy. Based on research carried out among urban political non-governmental actors in Nairobi and Lusaka, and observations of trends in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the author argues that ICTs enhance the efficiency and operations of CSOs and make it easier for them to overcome ideological and other state obstacles but that states still remain powerful controllers of key instruments of dominance thus making real impact of new media minimal.

To come

Auteur
Okoth Fred Mudhai is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Global Media and Communication in the Media Department of Coventry University.

Contenu
PART I: INTRODUCTION General Introduction: Civic Challenge of Ruling Elite via New Digital Media in Africa PART II: THE SETTING Private-Public Sphere: Civic Engagement, New Media, and Democracy Theory The 'Wave' and 'Spring' Metaphors in Networks' Struggle for Change Civic Engagement, the African State, and Political Reform Power and Influence in the Digital Age: New Challenges to State Hegemony PART III: CONTINENTAL TRENDS AND NETWORKS Platforms and Applications Diffusion: Civic Engagement and ICT Trends Identity and Issue Networks: New Media, Politics of Belonging and Change PART IV: A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES - KENYA AND ZAMBIA La Luta Continua : Transition and Disillusionment in the 'Second Liberation' and the 'Third Republic' Civic Actors and the Struggle for Change: Precursors to New Social Movements in Kenya and Zambia Unmuzzling Old Dogs to Bark Anew Far and Wide Perceptions of Kenyan and Zambian Urban Civic Actors on their New Media Use In Political Realms PART V: CONCLUSION Civic Engagement, Digital Networks, and Political Reform in an Increasingly Open Digital Media Environment