Negotiating the Net, Chapter 4: South Africa
April 2005
by Kelvin Wong, Ernest Wilson III
Why do national patterns of Internet expansion differ so greatly throughout Africa? To what extent do politics trump technology? Who are the "information champions" in the various African states? Addressing these and related questions, Negotiating the Net in Africa explores the politics, economics, and technology of Internet diffusion across the continent.
The "Negotiating the Net" framework is applied consistently to chapters on Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania, allowing a rich, comparative analysis based on in-country research and extensive interviews with key stakeholders. Three broader chapters reflect a cross-cutting perspective. The result is a comprehensive discussion that, while dealing specifically with Africa, is also highly relevant to other regions in the developing world.
From Negotiating the Net, Chapter 4: South Africa:
"Despite its status as the most industrialized country on the African continent, South Africa in 1990 seemed an unlikely starting point for Africa's entry into the information age. By the end of the 1980s, just as the ferment in global computing which preceded the development of what we now know as the Internet began, South Africa was a country gripped by crisis. Decades of racial oppression at the hands of a white apartheid oligarchy had led to diplomatic isolation and the imposition of both economic sanctions and a cultural and scientific boycott. Domestically, popular opposition had risen to unprecedented levels, with an ongoing wave of mass protests against the backdrop of a growing African National Congress-led armed insurgency. The economy was approaching terminal decline."
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