Communicating war in Mali, 2012

TY - JOUR

T1 - Communicating war in Mali, 2012

AU - Pelckmans, Lotte

AU - Bruijn, Mirjam de

AU - Sangare, Boukary

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - The Arab Spring raised high expectations for political freedom, especially for situations in which the rapid development of ICT intersects with political oppression and rebellion, as was the case in Mali, West Africa. In 2012 the country's northern part fell into the hands of rebels and jihadists were on the rise. This article tries to understand the development of political agency in relation to the unprecedented access to new ICT of the Fulani nomads and urbanites in the Mopti region (Hayre), who engage increasingly with new actors and networks present in the war zone: rebels and jihadists; the diaspora from that region; and the journalistic and academic communities who visit the region. We argue that political agency is emerging in the relation between (newly appearing) information networks in both the on- and off-line worlds. These networked societies are embedded in cultural and social historical specificities of the Sudan-Sahel zone in conflict.

AB - The Arab Spring raised high expectations for political freedom, especially for situations in which the rapid development of ICT intersects with political oppression and rebellion, as was the case in Mali, West Africa. In 2012 the country's northern part fell into the hands of rebels and jihadists were on the rise. This article tries to understand the development of political agency in relation to the unprecedented access to new ICT of the Fulani nomads and urbanites in the Mopti region (Hayre), who engage increasingly with new actors and networks present in the war zone: rebels and jihadists; the diaspora from that region; and the journalistic and academic communities who visit the region. We argue that political agency is emerging in the relation between (newly appearing) information networks in both the on- and off-line worlds. These networked societies are embedded in cultural and social historical specificities of the Sudan-Sahel zone in conflict.

KW - Mali

KW - Conflict

KW - Media

KW - West Africa

KW - Networked Social Spaces

KW - Political Agency

KW - Azawad

KW - ICT

U2 - 10.1386/jams.7.2.109_1

DO - 10.1386/jams.7.2.109_1

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2040-199X

VL - 7

SP - 109

EP - 128

JO - Journal of African Media Studies

JF - Journal of African Media Studies

IS - 2

ER -