Knowledge and legitimacy: the fragility of digital mobilisation in Sudan.

This paper examines digital mobilisation with respect to knowledge production, legitimacy and power in Sudan since new communication and surveillance technologies became widespread. Enthusiasm for digital opposition peaked with the Arab Spring and troughed through the repressive government apparatus...

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Publicado en:Journal of Eastern African Studies Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 35 - 54
Autores principales: Lamoureaux, Siri, Sureau, Timm
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Feb2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2019
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        10.1080/17531055.2018.1547249
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        atl: Knowledge and legitimacy: the fragility of digital mobilisation in Sudan.
      aug:
        au:
          Lamoureaux, Siri
          Sureau, Timm
        affil:
          Department of Integration and Conflict, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany
          Law, Organisation, Science and Technology (LOST) Research Group, Seminar für Ethnologie, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
      su:
        Sudan
        Theory of knowledge
        Social media
        Electronic surveillance
        Digital technology
        Computer hacking
      sug:
        subj:
          Theory of knowledge
          Social media
          Electronic surveillance
          Sudan
          Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors
          Digital technology
          Computer hacking
      keyword:
        counterpublic
        digital technologies
        Hacking Team
        knowledge production
        legitimacy
        Nafeer
        public
        social media
        state
        surveillance
        counterpublic
        digital technologies
        Hacking Team
        knowledge production
        legitimacy
        Nafeer
        public
        social media
        state
        surveillance
      ab: This paper examines digital mobilisation with respect to knowledge production, legitimacy and power in Sudan since new communication and surveillance technologies became widespread. Enthusiasm for digital opposition peaked with the Arab Spring and troughed through the repressive government apparatus. Social media (SMS, Facebook, Twitter) and crowdsourcing technologies can threaten the government's control over the public sphere as participatory practices. To arrive at this finding, we argue the significance of epistemological tools of those who control the representation of digital power, and approach state legitimacy as an ongoing and fragile process of constructing "reality" that requires continuous work to stabilise and uphold. At the same time, the paper describes an international counterpublic of security researchers and hackers who revealed that the Sudanese government invested greatly in controlling the digital landscape. We analyse Nafeer, a local grass-roots initiative for flood-disaster-relief that made use of digital media despite the digital suppression. Nafeer's challenge to the state came from the way it threatened the state-monopoly over knowledge, revealing both the fragility and the power of state legitimacy.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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