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| Academic Articles + Book Chapters |
| State-Dominated Technological Surveillance in India This paper analyzes the policies and laws governing CCTV surveillance in Delhi and Telangana, home to two of the world’s most surveilled cities. It maps the stakeholders within state institutions driving this expansion and examines the dynamics of state dominance and public compliance, as well as the role of police and provincial governments in legitimizing and deploying technological surveillance. Read more here. Surveillance, Privacy, and Civil Society in Malawi This article assesses Malawi’s new Data Protection Act and Authority against persistent surveillance practices like SIM registration and social media monitoring. It explores the constrained role of civil society in advocating for digital rights, citing gaps in technical knowledge, funding, and political sensitivity. Read more here. AI Authoritarianism From China and Russia to Hungary and the United States, established and aspiring actors around the globe are enamoured by AI as a way of realising authoritarian dreams. The paper argues that AI introduces a series of ‘authoritarian tendencies’ that may (or may not) be realised. It suggests that these are not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism and presents a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes. Read the paper here. Performativity, Pragmatism, and Border Control Technologies Critical analysis of global mobility control requires a shift toward “Southernising” criminology. This framework synthesizes the concepts of performativity and pragmatism to challenge state-centric and Northern-centric perspectives that frame border control technologies as neutral tools. Instead, it foregrounds Southern agency and questions the “solutionist” narratives used to manage migration. Read the chapter |
| Books |
| Democratising Spy Watching: Oversight of Surveillance in Southern Africa Effective public oversight of intelligence-driven surveillance is critical for protecting democratic freedoms in Southern Africa. This publication explores strategies for democratizing “spy watching” and holding state intelligence agencies accountable to ensure they do not operate outside the public interest. Read the book The AI Matrix: Profits, Power, Politics The book analyses how deeply AI is entangled in global politics and corporate profit-hunting. “The AI Matrix” argues that the AI transformation is not just about innovative technology. It’s about who owns tech, what they want to do with it, who can pay for it, and how other economic players around the world are forced to adjust. Profits, power and politics are part and parcel of the AI matrix. Download the book here. Beyond Fairness: Designing Algorithmic Bureaucracies The movement to make algorithms “fair” has been only minimally effective at preventing harm. Fairness often serves as a depoliticized lens that obscures deeper questions of justice. A more ambitious approach is needed: designing “algorithmic bureaucracies” that prioritize empirical social scientific methods and model the entire sociotechnical system rather than just technical subsystems. Read the book The Sage Handbook of Digital Labour This volume brings interdisciplinary scholars to explore the expansive concept of digital labour. It covers theoretical traditions, material sites of production, key concepts, worker subjectivities, and organizing tactics globally. The handbook examines work from platform gig labor to cultural production and the manual labor underpinning digital infrastructure. Read the contents here. Silicon Elsewhere: Nairobi, Global China, and the Promise of Techno-Capital Nairobi has been heralded as Africa’s “Silicon Savannah,” becoming a technology and innovation capital for the continent. This ethnography by Andrea Pollio maps the interface between Nairobi’s innovation scene and China’s digital presence, drawing on interviews with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and data scientists. The book explores the competing meanings of techno-capital and locates Nairobi as an experimental capital of technological change rather than a periphery, highlighting a unique story of ingenuity, speculation, and pragmatism. Download the book |
| Commentaries + Research Reports |
| Iran’s Case Should Put an End to Illusions About Digital Sovereignty The comprehensive and recurring implementation of internet shutdowns in Iran, alongside the development of the National Information Network, provides a stark warning against the global promotion of “digital sovereignty.” The Iranian experience illustrates how nationalist and centralized systems of internet governance can fragment the global internet and empower state-led control over communication infrastructure. This case demonstrates that the priority should remain on maintaining global connectivity rather than pursuing a sovereignty model that establishes state-based information silos. Read the full piece 2025 Digital Rights Review: Spyware, AI Warfare, and Regulation The digital rights landscape in 2025 has been shaped by the rapid proliferation of spyware, the normalization of AI in warfare, and the increasing influence of EU regulations. This review highlights how these developments are fundamentally altering the global struggle for privacy and digital autonomy. Read the review Understanding Machine Listening and Voice Data Privacy This updated digital literacy primer provides an overview of machine listening technologies and their associated privacy risks. It outlines key rights and protections within the Canadian context, with an expanded analysis of regulatory gaps. The toolkit includes recommendations for civil society organizations to engage in policy advocacy on voice data privacy. Access the file here. Dehumanisation Powered by AI: Linguistic Profiling of Migrants in India Reports indicate that IIT Bombay, in collaboration with the Maharashtra government, is developing an AI-based tool designed to identify “illegal” migrants through linguistic profiling. Despite a reported accuracy rate of only 60%, the tool aims to mechanize suspicion by converting language into an instrument for exclusion. This development reflects a broader global trend of using algorithmic power to monitor and deny legal existence to persecuted populations, echoing the dystopian surveillance loops warned of in classic political critiques. Read here |
| Reading Circles + Call for Papers |
| Call for Papers: Digital Authoritarianism in Africa Submissions are open for a special issue on authoritarian practices, digital rights, and digital citizenship as resistance in Africa. Submission Deadline: May 31, 2026 Read the full CFP here Co-Liberative Computing: 2026 Reading Circle The 2026 reading circle focuses on three papers that examine smart killjoys, algorithmic Luddism and the colonisation of the smart home: Join the reading circle |
| Special Issue Spotlight |
| This special issue for Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East (CSSAME) explores the intersections of digital technology, imperial genealogies, and the technics of modern warfare. The collection features a wide range of scholarly perspectives on drone warfare, imperial mapping, and the data-driven history of surveillance. Featured in this issue: Technology and Critique: Genealogies of Digital War, Madiha Tahir & Adrien Zakar. Read here (Counter-)Mapping US Empire in Africa, Samar Al-Bulushi. Read here Gimmicks of War, Adrien Zakar. Read here Drone Empires: Ethnic Conflict and Imperial Machinations, Matthew Ghazarian. Read here Distributed Empire: A Technics of Drone War, Madiha Tahir. Read here iPhones as Compromised Talisman in Northwest China, Darren Byler. Read here Big Data Before the Age of Big Data: The 1917 Anglo-Egyptian Census, Karim Malak. Read here Pivots, Sareeta Amrute. Read here |
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