Nanjala Nyabola

Last updated
Nanjala Nyabola
Re publica 19 - Day 2 (32852693297).jpg
OccupationWriter, Political Analyst
NationalityKenyan
EducationKianda School; University of Birmingham; University of Oxford; Harvard Law School
Website
nanjalawrites.com

Nanjala Nyabola is a writer, political analyst, and activist based in Nairobi, Kenya. [1] [2]

Contents

Nyabola writes extensively about African society and politics, technology, international law, and feminism for academic and non-academic publications. Her first book Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya (Zed Books, 2018) was described as "a must read for all researchers and journalists writing about Kenya today". [3]

Nyabola held a Rhodes Scholarship at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford in 2009, [4] was part of the 2017 inaugural cohort of Foreign Policy Interrupted Fellows, [5] and was a 2017 Logan Nonfiction Program Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good. [6]

Nyabola sits on the board of Amnesty International Kenya. [7]

Education

Nyabola holds multiple degrees in politics and law: [5]

Journalism

Nyabola writes extensively about African society and politics, in particular Kenya, alongside discussions of technology, international law, and feminism. Her work has featured in publications and outlets including African Arguments, [8] Al Jazeera, [9] Financial Times , [10] Foreign Affairs, [11] Foreign Policy , [12] The Guardian , [13] New African , [14] The New Humanitarian , [15] The New Inquiry , [16] New Internationalist , [17] OkayAfrica [18] and World Policy Journal . [19]

Her 2014 Al Jazeera opinion piece "Why do Western media get Africa wrong?" [20] generated much discussion, [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] including on the BBC World Service [28] and in a 2014 McGill University course syllabus on Western representations of Africa in media and pop culture. [29]

Her 2010 Guardian opinion piece "Why, as an African, I took a Rhodes scholarship" [30] was chosen as one of the 5 Best Wednesday Columns in The Atlantic . [31]

Public speaking

Nanjala Nyabola at the Disruption Network Lab in Berlin, 2018 Nanjala Nyabola - CC by Maria Silvano - At Disruption Network Lab - Hate News conference 2018-05-25.jpg
Nanjala Nyabola at the Disruption Network Lab in Berlin, 2018
Laura Rosenberger, Uri Rosenthal, Andreas Michaelis, Nanjala Nyabola, Oliver della Costa Stuenkel in 2019 Future Affairs Berlin 2019 - ,,Laura Rosenberger, Uri Rosenthal, Andreas Michaelis, Nanjala Nyabola, Oliver della Costa Stuenkel.jpg
Laura Rosenberger, Uri Rosenthal, Andreas Michaelis, Nanjala Nyabola, Oliver della Costa Stuenkel in 2019

Nyabola is a frequent contributor to the BBC World Service, particularly on issues around Kenyan politics and technology. [28] [32] [33] [34] [35]

She is a prolific speaker at universities including discussions of African politics, specifically Kenya, migration, feminism, and the digital at the University of Edinburgh, [36] SOAS, [37] [38] Stanford University. [39]

Nyabola has been an invited speaker at numerous international conferences on the politics of the digital, including re:publica 2018 [40] and 2019, [41] the 2018 Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa, [42] and the 2019 RightsCon in Tunis. [43] She gave the opening keynote at the 2022 Association of Internet Researchers conference. [1]

Works

Books

Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move is a collection of essays published in 2020 by Hurst Publishers,. [44] The essays analyse the radicalised experience of travelling as "a middle-class, mobile, Black African female" [45] and is interspersed with "personal stories that are witty, moving, unsettling, and harrowing in turn". [46] The book has been positively received and featured in The Times Literary Supplement [45] and NPR [47] amongst others. Ranka Primorac writes that the book "has sharp and urgent things to say about racism in America, xenophobia in Africa, and the future of Pan-Africanism". [46]

Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya was published in 2018 by Zed Books. [48] A review in African Studies Quarterly described it as a "highly refreshing, innovative, and descriptive narrative sheds light on contemporary Kenya, highlighting the impact of technology on its political and social systems". [45] It received positive reviews from LSE Review of Books , [3] Duncan Green, [49] Business Daily Africa , [50] between the lines podcast from the Institute of Development Studies [51] and the Africa Oxford Initiative podcast at the University of Oxford. [52] She has given book talks at numerous universities including the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, [53] the University of the Witwatersrand, [54] School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, [55] Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society [56] and the University of Cambridge. [57] The book is cited in a Financial Times article on the fight to control Africa's digital revolution. [58]

Where Women Are: Gender & The 2017 Kenyan Elections was published in 2018 by Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung and Twaweza Communications Ltd and co-edited with Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle. [59]

Book chapters

"Testimony as Text: Performative Vulnerability and the Limits of Legalistic Approaches to Refugee Protection"

"Media Perspectives: Social Media and New Narratives: Kenyans Tweet Back"

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References

  1. 1 2 "Prize Students Step-up to Receive Awards". University of Birmingham. 12 July 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ↑ Adebanjo, Oluwayemisi (2019). "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya". African Studies Quarterly. 18 (4): 85–86.
  3. 1 2 deSouza, Priyanka (2018-12-07). "Book Review: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya by Nanjala Nyabola". LSE Review of Books. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  4. ↑ "Rhodes Scholar Database". Rhodes Trust. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  5. 1 2 "Foreign Policy Interrupted | H. Nanjala Nyabola" . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  6. ↑ "H. Nanjala Nyabola". Carey Institute for Global Good. 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  7. ↑ "Our Board". Amnesty International Kenya. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  8. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola, Author at African Arguments". African Arguments. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  9. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  10. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  11. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola". Foreign Affairs. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  12. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola – Foreign Policy" . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  13. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  14. ↑ "Search for "nanjala nyabola" - New African Magazine". newafricanmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  15. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola | The New Humanitarian". www.thenewhumanitarian.org. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  16. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola". The New Inquiry. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  17. ↑ "Author Details". New Internationalist. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  18. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola". runner. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  19. ↑ "Search Results for "nanjala nyabola" – World Policy" . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  20. ↑ Nyabola, Nanjala. "Why do Western media get Africa wrong?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  21. ↑ Gathara, Patrick (2014-01-24). "If western journalists get Africa wrong, who gets it right?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  22. ↑ "In defence of western journalists in Africa - By Michela Wrong". African Arguments. 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  23. ↑ "Why do Western media get Africa wrong?". TMS Ruge. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  24. ↑ "What does a round of 'African nations in high school' say about". The East African. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  25. ↑ Dersso, Solomon. "Reporting Africa: In defence of a critical debate". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  26. ↑ "Examining the roots of biased reporting on Africa | Africa Talks". www.africa-talks.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  27. ↑ "Two tribes". The Economist. 2014-01-24. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  28. 1 2 "BBC World Service - World Have Your Say, Is it the media's responsibility to champion Africa, or simply understand it?". BBC. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  29. ↑ Barber, Nicholas (2014). "Syllabus - Africa in Media and Pop Culture" (PDF). mcgill.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  30. ↑ Nyabola, Nanjala (2010-05-05). "Why, as an African, I took a Rhodes scholarship | Nanjala Nyabola". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  31. ↑ Simpson, Jared Keller, Alex Eichler, Jake (2010-05-05). "5 Best Wednesday Columns". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-07-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ "BBC World Service - Business Daily, Tackling Fake News". BBC. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  33. ↑ "BBC World Service - Focus on Africa, Political violence erupts in Guinea". BBC. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  34. ↑ "BBC World Service - Africa Today, Kenya Election Watch Special". BBC. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  35. ↑ "BBC World Service - Business Matters, Raila Odinga Calls for Boycott of Kenyan Elections". BBC. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  36. ↑ "Centre of African Studies: Events : Africa in 2019: Prospects & Forecasts". www.cas.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  37. ↑ "Africa in 2018: Prospects & Forecasts | SOAS University of London". www.soas.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  38. ↑ "NANJALA NYABOLA". SOAS African Development Forum. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  39. ↑ "Africa Table: Kenyan Feminisms in the Digital Age | Center for African Studies". africanstudies.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  40. ↑ "Introducing: #rpAccra Speaker Nanjala Nyabola". re:publica. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  41. ↑ "What Tech Can't Fix". re:publica 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  42. ↑ "CIPESA-FIFAfrica2018-participant-Nanjala-Nyabola". Cipesa Events. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  43. ↑ "Nanjala Nyabola's schedule for RightsCon Tunis 2019". rightscon2019.sched.com. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  44. ↑ "Travelling While Black | Hurst Publishers". HURST. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  45. 1 2 3 Saro-Wiwa, Noo (January 15, 2021). "Travelling While Black by Nanjala Nyabola book review | The TLS". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  46. 1 2 Primorac, Ranka (2021-07-03). "Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move". Wasafiri. 36 (3): 102–103. doi:10.1080/02690055.2021.1918469. ISSN   0269-0055.
  47. ↑ "Rewriting The Travel Guidebook With Nanjala Nyabola : Rough Translation". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  48. ↑ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics". ZED Books. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  49. ↑ "Book Review: Nanjala Nyabola, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya". From Poverty to Power. 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  50. ↑ "BOOK REVIEW: Kenya's digital democracy against analogue politics". Business Daily. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  51. ↑ "Podcast Ep 09: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics – Nanjala Nyabola". www.ids.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  52. ↑ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the digital era is transforming Kenya | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures". podcasts.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  53. ↑ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics". Berkman Klein Center. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  54. ↑ "Book Talk : What Technology Can't Fix by Nanjala Nyabola | Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research". wiser.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  55. ↑ "On Digital Democracy in Kenya | Columbia SIPA". sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  56. ↑ "Old Civic Spaces in New Digital Places: Theorising Kenya's Digital Civil Society". Stanford PACS. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  57. ↑ "talks.cam : Book launch with Nanjala Nyabola - in conversation with Dr Duncan Omanga (CGHR)". www.talks.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  58. ↑ Pilling, David (20 June 2019). "The fight to control Africa's digital revolution". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  59. ↑ "Where Women Are: Gender & The 2017 Kenyan Elections". Heinrich Böll Stiftung East & Horn of Africa. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  60. ↑ African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict.
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