Abstracts
The ubiquitous presence of mobile telephony and proliferation of digital networks imply a critical role for these technologies in overcoming the constraints of space in fragmented cities. Academic literature draws from a range of disciplines but fails to address the significance of new technologies for African and South African cities. Debates on technologies and urban spaces reflect a Northern bias and case literature that dwells on the developmental aspects of ICT do not engage with the broader significance with regards to urban change in African cities. This research addresses these gaps by examining the local transformative qualities of mobile telephony in a South African city, Durban. It focuses on the ways in which informal traders active in the city use technology. Actor-network theory was used in the analysis of the field work, uncovering material and human actors, network stabilization processes and agency in determining the transformative potential of this form of digital networking at city and local scales. Findings indicate that appropriation of technology is informed by livelihood strategies. Innovation is enabled when translation extends to appropriation. More in-depth research is needed on how technology is molded and appropriated to suit livelihoods. Throughout the research the spatial dimensions of the relationship between mobile telephony and networks were considered. The network spaces that emerge from actor relations do not correspond with the physical spaces usually considered in policy.
Mobile telephony; Digital networks; Informality
A ubiquidade da telefonia móvel e a proliferação das redes digitais concedem a essas tecnologias papel fundamental na superação das limitações do espaço em cidades fragmentadas. A literatura acadêmica se baseia em uma série de disciplinas, mas falha ao não abordar a importância das novas tecnologias para as cidades africanas e sul-africanas. Debates sobre tecnologias e espaços urbanos refletem um viés setentrional e os estudos de caso envolvendo os aspectos de desenvolvimento das tecnologias de informação e comunicação não se ocupam do significado mais amplo relacionado às transformações urbanas nas cidades africanas. Esta pesquisa aborda estas lacunas, examinando as qualidades transformadoras locais de telefonia móvel em uma cidade sul-africana - Durban. O foco está nas formas pelas quais os comerciantes informais da cidade se utilizam da tecnologia. A teoria ator-rede foi utilizada na análise dos dados coletados em campo, revelando atores humanos e materiais, processos de estabilização da rede e o papel da agência em estabelecer o potencial transformador desta forma de redes digitais na escala local e da cidade. Os resultados indicam que a apropriação da tecnologia é orientada por estratégias de subsistência e que a inovação é acionada quando a tradução se converte em apropriação. Ressalta-se a necessidade de pesquisas mais aprofundadas sobre as formas pelas quais a tecnologia é moldada e apropriada para prover a subsistência. Ao longo da pesquisa as dimensões espaciais da relação entre telefonia e redes móveis foram consideradas. Os espaços da rede que emergem das relações entre atores não correspondem com os espaços físicos geralmente considerados nas políticas públicas.
Telefonia móvel; Redes digitais; Informalidade
- BINGHAM, S. Object-ions: from technological determinism towards geographies of relations. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, n. 14, 1996, p. 635-657.
- CAMPBELL, M. O. N. Actor networking, technological planning and concep-tions of space: the dynamics of irrigation farming in the coastal savanna of Ghana. Applied Geography, n. 25, p. 367-381, 2005.
- CORDELLA, A.; SHAIKH, M. From epistemology to ontology: challenging the constructed "truth" of ANT. London: London School of Economics and Political Science, 2006. (LSE Working Paper Series n. 143).
- FOUCAULT, M. The order of things Abingdon: Routledge, 1989.
- LATOUR, B. Pragmatogonies. American Behavioural Scientist, n. 37, v. 6, p. 791-808, 1994.
- LATOUR, B. On recalling ANT. In: LAW, J.; HASSARD, J. Actor network theory and after Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
- LAW, J. Organizing modernity Oxford, Blackwell, 1994.
- LAW, J. After ANT: complexity, naming and topology. In: LAM, J.; HASSARD, J. Actor network theory and after Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
- LAW, J. Actor network theory and material semiotics 2007. Available at: <www.heterogeneities.net>. Accessed: May 18th 2007.
- MURDOCH, J. Towards a geography of heterogeneous associations. Progress in Human Geography, v. 21, n. 3, 1997, p. 321-337.
- MURDOCH, J. The spaces of actor-network theory. Geoforum, n. 29, v. 4, p. 357-374, 1998.
- MURDOCH, J. Post-structural Geography London: Sage, 2006.
- ODENDAAL, N. ICT's in development - who benefits? Use of geographic informmation systems on the Cato Manor Development Project, South Africa. Journal of International Developmentn, n. 14, p. 89-100, 2002.
- ODENDAAL, N. (D)Urban space as the site of collective actions: towards a conceptual framework for understanding the digital city in Africa. In: AURIGI, A.; CINDIO, F. De (Ed.). Augmented public spaces: articulating the physical and electronic city Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008.
- ROSE, J.; JONES, M. The double dance of agency: a socio-theoretic account of how machines and humans interact. Systems, Signs & Actions: An International Journal on Communication, Information, Technology and Work, v. 1, n. 1, p. 19-37, 2005.
- SIMONE, A. Introduction: urban processes and change. In: SIMONE, A.; ABOUHANI, A. Urban Africa: changing contours of survival in the city. London: Zed Books, 2005. p. 1-26.
- TOWNSEND, A. Learning from September 11th: ICT Infrastructure collapses in a global cybercity. GRAHAM, S. (org.). The cybercities reader New York: Routledge, 2004.
- VAN DER DUIM, R. Tourismscapes. Annals of Tourism Research, n. 34, v. 4, p. 961-976, 2007.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
14 Mar 2014 -
Date of issue
Apr 2014
History
-
Received
01 Sept 2013 -
Accepted
09 Oct 2013
