Pathway outta pigeonhole? De-contextualizing Majority World Countries

Cheruiyot, David; Conill, Raul Ferrer

doi:10.1177/0163443720960907

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This categorization is not relevant only to understand responses emerging in specific regional contexts. As Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill (2021) argue, research focusing on the non-West (or Majority Countries in their terminology) should not be automatically pigeonholed into area studies or assumed to be generalizable only within a specific geographical remit. Decentering knowledge globally requires research to approach examples from the Global South on an equal epistemological footing as legitimate forms of theory building.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Demystifying the COVID-19 Infodemic: Conspiracies, Context, and the Agency of Users

Gagliardone

Diepeveen

Findlay

et al. 2021

Social Media + Society

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This article presents new empirical insights into what people do with conspiracy theories during crises. By suppressing the impulse to distinguish between truth and falsehood, which has characterized most scholarship on the COVID-19 “infodemic,” and engaging with claims surrounding two popular COVID-19 conspiracies—on 5G and on Bill Gates—in South Africa and Nigeria, we illustrate how conspiracies morph as they interact with different socio-political contexts. Drawing on a mixed-method analysis of more than 6 million tweets, we examine how, in each country, conspiracies have uniquely intersected with longer-term discourses and political projects. In Nigeria, the two conspiracies were both seized as opportunities to extend criticism to the ruling party. In South Africa, they produced distinctive responses: while the 5G conspiracy had limited buy-in, the Gates conspiracy resonated with deep-rooted resentment toward the West, corporate interests, and what is seen as a paternalistic attitude of some external actors toward Africa. These findings stress the importance of taking conspiracy theories seriously, rather than dismissing them simply as negative externalities of digital ecosystems. Situating conspiracies in specific dynamics of trust and mistrust can make an important difference when designing responses that are not limited to broadcasting truthful information, but can also enable interventions that account for deeply rooted sentiments of suspicion toward specific issues and actors, which can vary significantly across communities.

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confidence: 99%

Demystifying the COVID-19 Infodemic: Conspiracies, Context, and the Agency of Users

Gagliardone

Diepeveen

Findlay

et al. 2021

Social Media + Society

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show abstract

“…While it is important to appreciate the past, it is equally necessary that we question how we can take advantage of the existing tools on grassroots levels. As Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill (2021) suggest, the central themes of our scholarship should base on the de-contextualization as opposed to seeking contextual distinctions in our scholarship. This endeavor requires that African scholarship think innovatively outside Western epistemologies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As possible remedies to the problems, Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill (2021) suggest the need to de-contextualization (African) scholarship by promoting theoretical, conceptual, and methodological research rather than contextual differences. In other words, African scholars should go beyond the replication of Western methodologies and ask more profound questions that seek to transform the field of communication (Moyo, 2020).…”

Section: Can the Quest For African Scholars Walk In Tandem With The S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Can African scholars speak? Situating African voices in International Communication scholarship

Gondwe

2022

Media, Culture & Society

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This article seeks to contribute and engage with debates pertaining to epistemology, knowledge production, and positionality of ‘International Communication Studies’ (ICS) in sub-Saharan Africa. The study operates on the assumption that International Communication studies in most Sub-Saharan Africa are characterized by tales of marginalization, poverty, wars, and tribal conflicts. While this approach speaks to the notion of development communication, it is insufficient to bolster the contributions of African scholarship to the global literature. In turn, ICS in Africa is treated as second class and dependent on Western scholarship for survival. Against this backdrop, the study interrogates the position of African scholarship, arguing that most research contributions are treated as repositories for raw data with no epistemological knowledge to contribute to the global network platform.

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“…It also means, as recent reflections in this same journal have convincingly argued, to eradicate the primacy of Western theory and practice and open up appropriate pathways through which non-Western perspectives and approaches from the global South not only participate in the dialog but are able to shape theory and practical work. Cheruiyot and Ferrer-Conill (2021) have noted, for instance, that even when scholarship addressing social phenomena and dynamics in Majority World countries finds appropriate space, it often needs to justify its relevance through a region-centric approach that emphasizes the specificity of the studied context; this, however, ultimately diminishes their ability to offer theoretical, conceptual and methodological guidance to an international scholarship. In this regard, a global approach to AI, algorithms, and data informed by media and cultural studies entails not just an expansion of the field of contributions but a more drastic change of the way we encounter, build, and apply theory.…”

Section: The Contribution Of the Media And Cultural Studies Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclaiming the human in machine cultures: Introduction

Natale

Guzman

2022

Media, Culture & Society

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The relationship between technology and culture has always been a contested issue in media and cultural studies. Ongoing advances in computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI), however, are posing new kinds of questions and challenges to the field. As many have argued, these technologies invite to rethink the relationship between technology and culture, positing the idea that not only humans, but also machines produce and construct ‘culture’. The goal of this themed issue is to consider notions such as ‘algorithmic culture’ and ‘machine culture’ from within the tradition of media and cultural studies, in order to move toward a conceptualization of culture in which machines are intertwined within human systems of meaning-making. In this introduction to the themed issue, we discuss why these emerging technologies and the human cultures forming around them are integral to the mission of media and cultural studies, and what the media and cultural studies tradition can bring into ongoing and future debates regarding the nexus of humans, machines, and culture.

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Pathway outta pigeonhole? De-contextualizing Majority World Countries

Cited by 16 publications

References 20 publications

Demystifying the COVID-19 Infodemic: Conspiracies, Context, and the Agency of Users

Demystifying the COVID-19 Infodemic: Conspiracies, Context, and the Agency of Users

Can African scholars speak? Situating African voices in International Communication scholarship

Reclaiming the human in machine cultures: Introduction

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