This book proposes a new theorisation when studying cyber dissidents in an African digital sphere. It argues that social media dissidents are a recent development in a long lineage of dissidents in African societies. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the study locates contemporary dissidents in the same family with other historical dissident figures found in African orature, the Chimurenga wars, through music, poetry and other forms of expression. The book argues against techno-deterministic approaches to studying social media-born digital dissidence in Africa. It is aimed at scholars dedicated to studying social media movements in African contexts and the global south generally, prompting them to re-evaluate their earlier conclusions and adopt a more nuanced and contextspecific approach.
Author(s): Trust Matsilele
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 179
City: Cham
Foreword
Reference
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Setting the Scene
Some Cultural and Historical Outlines of Dissidence in Zimbabwe
References
Chapter 2: Surveying and Locating Dissidence in Zimbabwe
Dissidence and the Figure of the Dissident: From Folklore and Tsumo to Chimurenga
Kusvereredza
References
Chapter 3: The Dissident Kusvereredza of @ProfJNMoyo
Introduction
The Metamorphosis of Jonathan Moyo into a Social Media Dissident
@ProfJNMoyo: A Case of Complex, Bifurcated and Evolving Dissidence
References
Chapter 4: Baba Jukwa, #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka: Dissident Kusvereredza from the Margins
References
Chapter 5: By Way of Conclusion: Thoughts on Hunhu, Social Media, Dissidentiality and Democracy
Social Media and Democratisation: Towards the Hunhu-Sphere
How Does the Internet Enable the Hunhu-Sphere?
Threats to Democracy? Media Ecology and the Hunhu-Sphere
References
References
Index
