{"id":3655,"date":"2011-07-20T10:29:28","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T14:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/?p=3655"},"modified":"2011-07-20T23:11:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T03:11:47","slug":"alternate-realities-in-the-developing-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/2011\/07\/20\/alternate-realities-in-the-developing-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternate Realities in the Developing World"},"content":{"rendered":"

The original work described in this post was done in collaboration with\u00a0Audrey Bennett<\/a> and\u00a0Ron Eglash<\/a> and funded by the National Science Foundation\u2019s GK-12 grant-funded\u00a0Triple Helix Program<\/a>. You can read all of the dispatches from Ghana on the3Helix fellows’ blog.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cell<\/a>
Cell phone towers are a constant site in Kumasi, Ghana.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alternate universes can be a lot of fun. We can make Superman land in the USSR<\/a>, put goatees on normally clean-shaven cast members<\/a>, and revisit moments in history and play the \u201cwhat if\u201d game<\/a>. It is the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. But there is much more to be said about the various parallel universes that might exist. At least, that\u2019s what a lot of social theory has us believe.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 20th<\/sup> century social scientists released dozens of books and articles with the words \u201csocial construction\u201d in the title. Social constructionism became a very useful tool for the post-modern author who wanted to deconstruct such difficult topics as organic chemistry or high-energy physics.\u00a0 Their premises were rather straightforward and were unceremoniously summarized and simplified by Ian Hacking in his book \u201cThe Social Construction of What?\u201d (2000)<\/a>. Hacking writes:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial Constructionists about X hold that:<\/p>\n

[1] X need not have existed, or need not be at all as it is. X, or X as it is present, is not determined by the nature of things; it is not inevitable. \u00a0(P.33).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hacking, as a philosopher of science, was concerned about the liberal use of the term \u201csocial construction\u201d and wanted to know what exactly it was that we were all so busy \u201cconstructing.\u201d Why would we talk about the social construction of institutions when, as any Sociology 101 class would teach us, institutions are social entities that cannot be explained without their social components. You might as well talk about the brick construction of brick homes.\u00a0 The more interesting moments of social constructionism (according to Hacking, and I agree) are those things that are not recognized as such. Such social construction theses have changed the world. One of the most notable and well-known theses is from Simone de Beauvoir\u2019s The Second Sex<\/a>, in which she proclaims, \u201cOne is not born, but rather becomes a woman.\u201d In this brief sentence, she rejects the assumption that when one\u2019s biology (sex) determines their role in society (gender).\u00a0 It was a simple distinction that was crucial in the launching of the feminist movement.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
One of many used cell phone vendors at the Kumasi Central Market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the late seventies sociologists, historians, and anthropologists began studying such \u201cunsocial\u201d topics as laboratories and scientists<\/a>. These authors, by the late 80s, had formed a well-defined school of thought titled \u201cSocial Construction of Technology\u201d or SCOT. Everything from the stove, to the bicycle, to the interstate highway system<\/a> were shown to be just one of countless other possible technical arrangements.<\/p>\n

Social entitles such as Victorian family structures, notions of masculinity and femininity, and class distinctions were crucial in the creation of present-day ovens, bicycles, and highways (respectively). All of them show a way things could have been, but are not. Their current forms are not, as Hacking would say, inevitable. It is my contention however, that we need not limit this perspective to historical accounts of invention and innovation. There are alternate innovation timelines happening all around us, especially in developing nations. <\/strong><\/p>\n

These alternate innovation timelines are the result of different people getting access to different services and technologies, at different times. Most of us may consider a smart phone to be an extravagance that we could do without. It is a luxury item that offers entertainment and functionality that, while extremely useful in our hectic lives, is not as necessary as our transportation to work or the electricity that does work around the house. Smartphones are things that you get once you can afford them, and not before more basic necessities have been filled. If you do not have a smartphone, you access social networking sites through a computer at home, work., and\/or school. Those that have a smartphone, probably use it in tandem with a full computer. But when one looks at the role cell phones play in the lives of low-income communities and developing nations, we see a different picture. The cell phone is not a luxury item, it is a communication tool that helps individuals pool resources, overcome obstacles, and gather information that would otherwise be unobtainable.<\/p>\n

Mobile penetration has increased 100 fold since the year 2000, in almost all African nations (read the full report by Kas Kalba for the precipitating factors\u00a0[PDF<\/a>]) and the usage patterns of these phones differ considerably from those in developed nations. Cell phones are plentiful, almost always pre-paid, are shared with others, and specialized for specific tasks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"stacks<\/a>
While cell phones seem to be the primary mode of internet access for most Ghanaians, computer stores were easy to find at central markets and along main boulevards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While in Ghana, we conducted about two-dozen interviews. Of my twenty-two interviews, half had smartphones and half had keypad only phones. (I considered anything with a full keyboard or a touchscreen, a smartphone.) Four interviewees had two cell phones that they used for specific purposes (one for calls and texts and the other for internet browsing). Three of those four had two smartphones and the other one had two keypad phones.\u00a0 Facebook is experienced, by and large, over the phone in a mobile format.<\/p>\n

In their keynote at the 2011 World Wide Developer\u2019s Conference<\/a>, Apple’s Steve Jobs noted that half of iPhone users never connect their device to a computer after the initial setup<\/a>. Tech blogs hailed the beginning of the \u201cpost-pc\u201d age, in which the work of full PCs has moved to a variety of handheld devices. But in reality, this is unique to the West and parts of Asia. The developing world never had a \u201cPC era\u201d and is not \u201cpost\u201d anything. The cell phone was most individuals\u2019 first connection to the Internet and social networking. Using Facebook was partially synonymous with the self-reported act of \u201cbrowsing\u201d but was not considered part of \u201cthe internet.\u201d<\/p>\n

While cell phone use in Ghana looks similar, people relate to the various technologies surrounding it, in a much different way. We don\u2019t need to bother with SCOT\u2019s historical \u201cwhat if\u2019s.\u201d We can look at the present-day differences of cell phone adoption in developing countries and see what has developed. Smartphones are used frequently by people from varying walks of life and shape their definitions of where the Internet begins, and Facebook ends. Most importantly however, it means any work that uses IT in the developing world, must take into consideration the unique history of that technology\u2019s adoption.<\/p>\n

[Edit 23:04EST]- <\/strong>I just remembered a picture that sums up how successful cell phone companies have been in Ghana. This was taken in the lobby just outside of the international arrivals terminal at the Accra Airport:<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original work described in this post was done in collaboration with\u00a0Audrey Bennett and\u00a0Ron Eglash and funded by the National Science Foundation\u2019s GK-12 grant-funded\u00a0Triple Helix Program. You can read all of the dispatches from Ghana on the3Helix fellows’ blog. Alternate universes can be a lot of fun. We can make Superman land in the USSR, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1512,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[892],"tags":[12088,3914,760,12089,942,245,249,431,12090,293,3497],"class_list":["post-3655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essay","tag-alternate-innovation-timelines","tag-apple","tag-cell-phones","tag-developing-nations","tag-facebook","tag-feminism","tag-ghana","tag-research","tag-scot","tag-social-construction","tag-social-justice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1512"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3655"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3676,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3655\/revisions\/3676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}