(CP-Africa) - The following report was published earlier in 2008 by Firoze Manji, Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Pan-African website, Pambazuka News and Fahamu. Read the excerpts below/download the full 8 paged report. What do you think? Share your thoughts.
“Mobile Activism or Mobile Hype?” by Firoze Manji
Every time a new technology comes along, everyone swears it will bring about social progress. All kinds of amazing qualities are attributed to the technology. Those living in poverty – especially in Africa – are the justificationfor investment and spending huge amounts. We haveseen this with the supposed values of the green revolutionproposed by the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations (eventhough most of us suspect that Alliance for a GreenRevolution in Africa (AGRA) is but a Trojan horse for theentry for the use of genetically modified technologies).In addition, we have seen this with mobile phones. Whatwould people do without the poor in Africa to justifytheir latest ventures!
He continues…
Why all this hype about mobile phones?Why are we not holding conferences about the roleof the pencil in development? Or the role of paper?There is more evidence of social progress made bythese humble instruments than all the informationand communication technologies (ICTs) over the last 20years.Pencils and paper can be used to write tracts suchas the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, The Wretchedof the Earth. However, they are also used to writeMein Kampf. There is nothing intrinsically progressiveabout the pencil or paper. It depends on who uses itand for what purpose.
More…
Mobile phones, after all the hype, are like pencils,
tools for communication (although perhaps the
pencil allows deeper reflection than the irritating
ring of the mobile). Like all technologies, tools do
not themselves do anything.
And more…
There is a real need to question the values and morals of those who are obsessed about the role of technologies…
In capitalist societies, all technologies have the potential for magnifying and amplifying social differentiation. It is only through the imposition of the democratic will of citizens can this inherent tendency of technologies be overcome. Mobile phone technologies are no exception. Our studies have shown that there is more hype than impact with respect to the role of mobile phone technologies and social progress for the most disenfranchised…
Download the full 8 paged report.
— CP-Africa.com
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