Nanjala Nyabola’s new book of essays called Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya (African Arguments) is now available on Amazon.
Nanjala Nyabola is a Kenyan commentator giving opinions with a focus on politics, war, social justice, books, and feminism. She contributes opinions to a variety of media outlets including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Okay Africa, The New African, The Guardian (UK), Foreign Policy, and a raft of many others.
Nyabola has contributed to two publications in the recent past including Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century: From the “Heart of Darkness” to “Africa Rising” (Communication and Society) edited by Mel Bunks, Suzanne Franks, and Chris Patterson. Her other contribution is to African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict which was edited by Pauline Ada Uwakweh.
The Nairobi based writer has unveiled her debut collection of essays speaking about the way that the internet era has changed Kenya. The Amazon blurb for Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya (African Arguments) describes the book thus;
“Kenya is the most digitally advanced country in sub-Saharan Africa, where Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and other online platforms are part of everyday life. And, as in Western nations, the digital age has had dramatic effects on society and politics. Yet, while we hear about the #MeToo movement and the Russian bot scandal, there is little appreciation for the feminist movement #MyDressMyChoice and the subversion of state-run political propaganda by social media. Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics aims to change this by presenting a unique contribution to the debate on digital democracy. For traditionally marginalized groups, particularly women and the disabled, digital spaces have provided vital platforms that allow Kenyans to build new communities that transcend old ethnic and gender divisions. Covering attempts by political elites to prevent social movements from translating online visibility into meaningful offline gains, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics explores the drastic efforts to contain online activism and new methods of feminist mobilization, as well as how “fake news,” Cambridge Analytica, and allegations of hacking contributed to tensions around the 2017 elections. Reframing digital democracy for the first time from the African perspective, Nanjala Nyabola’s groundbreaking work opens up new ways of understanding our current global online era.”
You can get your own copy of this book here. You can also follow her exploits on her Twitter.
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