I have just finished reading a book edited by Sokari Ekine, SMS Uprising. Subtitled “Mobile Activism in Africa”, it gives a great overview of the use of mobile technology for development and empowerment. #

The book consists of two parts, each comprising a series of essays by international authors. The first four chapters target the context of mobile activism. Christian Kreutz has contributed a great summary of future trends and software developments in African mobile activism. #

Another essay by Ken Banks asks whether “social mobile” is “empowering the many or the few”. Ken is the founder of FrontlineSMS, “a free software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone or modem into a central communications hub”. As the second part, consisting of seven case studies, includes a chapter co-authored by Juliana Rotich, the book brings together developers of two applications that stand for the success of mobile activism in Africa, FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi. #

I especially liked the essay by Rotich and Joshua Goldstein on “Digitally networked technology in Kenya’s 2007–08 post-election crisis”. It is a short version of a case study written for the Berkman Center’s Internet and Democracy Project. The chapter looks at three facets of social media in a conflict situation: “SMS campaigns to promote violence, blogs to challenge mainstream media narratives, and online campaigns to promote awareness of human rights violations.” Here’s a short excerpt dealing with the latter part: #

Ushahidi is a mashup: a blending of two internet applications to relay information in a visually compelling way. The design teams combined Google maps, which allows users to zoom in and view satellite images of Kenya, with a tool for users, via mobile phone or internet browser, to report incidents of violence on the map, add photos, video and written content that document where and when violence occurs. [...] #

The Ushahidi platform is revolutionary for human rights campaigns in the way that Wikipedia is revolutionary for encyclopaedias: they are tools that allow cooperation on a massive scale. Yochai Benkler describes this phenomenon as ‘commons-based peer production’, and argues that it has a central place in rethinking economic and social cooperation in a digital age. #

The essay more than once refers to Benkler’s outstanding work, The Wealth of Networks. I am just now reading this book myself and I find it to be very useful to fully understand the whole magnitude of the social media revolution we are experiencing. As Rotich and Goldstein write, “Yochai Benkler provide[s] useful language to help us begin to understand the place of these tools in society.” #

SMS Uprising combines theoretical groundwork and practical case studies useful to everyone interested in the use of mobile technology for activism and development. While some chapters are a bit longer than necessary, in combination the book provides a good overview of the issue. #

SMS Uprising is published by Pambazuka Press. It is available on their website as a paperback plus PDF for £12.95 or the PDF alone for £9.95 as well as on Amazon. #

The publisher encourages non-commercial redistribution of the work, so if for any reason you cannot afford to buy the book, drop me a mail at [myfirstname] [at] [thisdomain] and I’ll send you the PDF. #

I have just finished reading a book edited by Sokari Ekine, SMS Uprising. Subtitled “Mobile Activism in Africa”, it gives a great overview of the use of mobile technology for...