Invisible Users
Youth in the Internet Cafés of Urban Ghana
Reeks: Acting with Technology
Jenna Burrell
- An
- account
- of
- how
- young
- people
- in
- Ghana's
- capital
- city
- adopt
- and
- adapt
- digital
- technology
- in
- the
- margins
- of
- the
- global
- economy.The
- urban
- youth
- frequenting
- the
- Internet
- cafés
- of
- Accra,
- Ghana,
- who
- are
- decidedly
- not
- members
- of
- their
- country's
- elite,
- use
- the
- Internet
- largely
- as
- a
- way
- to
- orchestrate
- encounters
- across
- distance
- and
- amass
- foreign
- ties—activities
- once
- limited
- to
- the
- wealthy,
- university-educated
- classes.
- The
- Internet,
- accessed
- on
- second-hand
- computers
- (castoffs
- from
- the
- United
- States
- and
- Europe),
- has
- become
- for
- these
- youths
- a
- means
- of
- enacting
- a
- more
- cosmopolitan
- self.
- In
- Invisible
- Users,
- Jenna
- Burrell
- offers
- a
- richly
- observed
- account
- of
- how
- these
- Internet
- enthusiasts
- have
- adopted,
- and
- adapted
- to
- their
- own
- priorities,
- a
- technological
- system
- that
- was
- not
- designed
- with
- them
- in
- mind.Burrell
- describes
- the
- material
- space
- of
- the
- urban
- Internet
- café
- and
- the
- virtual
- space
- of
- push
- and
- pull
- between
- young
- Ghanaians
- and
- the
- foreigners
- they
- encounter
- online;
- the
- region's
- famous
- 419
- scam
- strategies
- and
- the
- rumors
- of
- “big
- gains”
- that
- fuel
- them;
- the
- influential
- role
- of
- churches
- and
- theories
- about
- how
- the
- supernatural
- operates
- through
- the
- network;
- and
- development
- rhetoric
- about
- digital
- technologies
- and
- the
- future
- viability
- of
- African
- Internet
- cafés
- in
- the
- region.Burrell,
- integrating
- concepts
- from
- science
- and
- technology
- studies
- and
- African
- studies
- with
- empirical
- findings
- from
- her
- own
- field
- work
- in
- Ghana,
- captures
- the
- interpretive
- flexibility
- of
- technology
- by
- users
- in
- the
- margins
- but
- also
- highlights
- how
- their
- invisibility
- puts
- limits
- on
- their
- full
- inclusion
- into
- a
- global
- network society.
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