Abstract:
Recent trends within international development aid are in increasingly pointing towards a notion of development, as something to be driven and powered from within the communities in the so called poor countries. When employing ICT for development the communities are equally thought to be playing a role through the creation of various forms of Tele Centres, Community Centres offering access to ICTs etc. Yet the focus on how to solve these issues through technology takes away the attention on the role of the community in the efforts of ICT integration. The implication of the generally accepted development discourse is the reduction of these communities into homogenous units without a voice and no geographical location, hence the italic community. Sociologically, the reduction of these communes consequently creates objects of communication for development discourse as a symbolic representation of the third world and the associated problems. More over, in South Africa the community is prescribed into a discourse of globalisation through the efforts of connecting these through ICT. Like this these communes are granted a specific role in the globalist – strategies of the South African government. Consequently the notion and conceptualisation of the problems in the local areas are distanced even further from the actual disadvantaged areas, yet increasingly prioritising the perceived need community based initiatives.
This will ensure that South Africa, and Africa, takes its rightful place as a competitive leader in this new paradigm of advanced technology. We will literally bridge the digital divide so that we may share our hopes and dreams with the rest of the world. Just as we would invite you into our villages with our warmth and hospitality, we will be joining you, our friends, in this exciting new global village, the village we call mother earth. [http://www.pnc.gov.za]
The dream of becoming a part of a commune and taking advantages of global development takes it s starting point in the traditional Africa, which in the above mentioned quote equals the villages, extending the local village all the way to the global village. Indicated in the quote above is that the relations to the global knowledge society is all inclusive and does not conflict with traditional values rather the key here goes through the implementation of technology in the villages for closing the divide between first and third worlds for the inclusion in the global knowledge society is meant to include the traditional African village, as a part of its landscape. The rural communities are pre-scribed a role as the most disadvantaged areas and in the development discourse thought to be those most in need for being de marginalised and developed [http://www.dti.gov.za/bee/complete.pdf p.4 – transformation imperative]. NGO efforts are directed at this task to help these communities in this effort and among international aid organisations, e.g. World Bank, are even promoting the view that this development should be community driven i.e. the efforts of reducing poverty should be found with in the community itself [http://www.worldbank.org/cdd]. The communities are central in the development discourse as these areas that are regarded as being poor, traditional and in the need for help and development, in order to become connected to a larger commune; in the discourse on the information society often phrased as a need to become a part of the global village [Jensen et al. 2005 p.1], making the metaphor of the village a strong rhetorical tool.
However, in the social-technical space the community also have a specific functionality in the social interactions relating to the introduction and visions of digitising disadvantaged districts. In this section I would like to regard communities by three distinctions:
The Community as social landscape: Understood as the actual physical location, where action takes and the negotiations and interactions are taking place within as well as from the outside interacting with a specific locality as a part of the trajectory of the actors involved, making it relevant to understand what practices are involved in these interactions [tsing p. 173].
The Community as a symbol: As will be argued in this section, then community itself often appears as being a construct of development discourse and in this way becomes a concept detached from its physical site and rather works as a stereotyped construct within the logic of the development discourse itself, yet remains un located and undefined. However this symbol equally serves as an object of collaboration and a tool for creating alliances.
Lastly, The Community as an actor interacting with the other actors through network relation, with its own trajectory and reason for creating alliances [Latour 1987], but here understood as agency coming from within the community itself.
In the success full globalisation of these communities are envisioned as being connected in order to be a part of the dream of globalisation, and in this way the futurist dream of prosperous communities outlines globalist strategies; they are required by the dream of the global village [Tsing 2000 p. 347].
This section is aiming at understanding the symbolism of community, how it is constructed and defined in order to fit into the global context. It is also trying to understand the problems of this unitary representation, which is argued at not taking diversity and local context into account.
The global village of Africa – African globalism.
"We must bridge the gap between urban and rural communities, between blacks and whites and the digital literacy gap…. What policy would best facilitate access to the Internet for all schools to communicate irrespective of where they are, while paying specific attention to rapid technological changes that must make South African business competitive. Our efforts to bridge the divide is primarily about people and not primarily technology." [Mbeki, 2001b]
As indicated in this quote the South African government is emphasising the humanitatrian ideals of inclusiveness and the centrality of people. There is an understanding, that the being a part of the knowledge society should be integrated into the ideals of new post apartheid South Africa [DASCT, 2001]. The connection to the global is also an issue of connecting and closing the gaps locally between the communities; the global is in this sense understood as a global commune. The humanitarian ideals are formulated, as being naturally a part of the ideal of becoming development, prosperous and democratic and through this going towards connection to the global context. As illustrated in the quote in the beginning of this section, the notion of the traditional African village is present and calls for a need to connect with the global village, as an image of the electronically wired globe including everybody in this brand new world. The inclusiveness and the centering around people outlines a humanitarian ideal, closely associated with the notion of the local need for acquiring global values of democracy. In a speech the South African president states:
On the national front, as you know, our new Constitution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of South Africa's freely elected representatives a few days ago, on the 8th of May 1996. This historic document is itself focused on the development of a people-centred society, for whose realisation information and communication are central. Mbeki 1996
As indicated in this quote, the democratic values of information and communication are central and even linked to the constitution, as a way to ensure the humanitarian ideals of inclusion and de marginalisation. This shows, that the notion of having the disadvantaged areas linked and connected is thought as being an integrated part of the constitutional rights and in this way creating a link to prosperity, and the democratic inclusion. Moreover, in the government discourse, there is equally an establishment of a link between the democratic rights and economic prosperity and therefore specifies particular, targeted areas and states:
That[technological] revolution has to take place essentially in the historically black urban and rural areas, which are our own domestic Third World, relative to the historically white First World. Mbeki 2001c
The envisioned new society is in this way entailed in government visions, which then work at two levels: the aim for global integration and equally for national integration, with the global integration being an inspiration for national integration. The community plays an important role, since it has s been pointed out as a targeted location, through the reference as being third world and as such included in the imperative of ensuring and improving socio-economic conditions.
In this work, South Africa is particularly influential through representation in all continental organs of Africa (African Union, Pan African Parliament (hosted in South Africa) and NEPAD)[Pejout 2003]; all organs advocating for the establishment of the humanistic information society, promoting humanitarian ideals (freedom, inclusiveness) as well as prospect for economic prosperity, both among the African countries, as well through the participation in globalism.
By Nepad Globalism is coined this way:
By globalisation, which we see as an evolving and ongoing historical process, we mean the integration
of national systems of production and finance. It is driven by policies of liberalisation in trade and
finance. It is embodied in an ensemble of international relations and institutions, at the apex of which
are the multi-national corporations, multi-lateral trading and financial institutions like the IMF, the World
Bank and the World Trading Organisations (WTO). Faster globalisation is reflected in the incredible
growth in the size of cross-border flows of goods, services and capital.
The choice for countries of the South is not whether to engage with globalisation or not, but how to
engage with it. It is essential for governments and people to engage with the process critically, to reshape
and re-direct its impact. The objective must be to enhance citizens' incorporation and access to
the benefits of globalisation, while minimising polarisation and social exclusion, and mitigating these
effects when and where they do occur. [Mbeki 2001c]
Globalism – A trans-national way out of poverty.
The modernity ideal of the new South Africa and the emphasis on integrating the third world, rural communities is equally a part of a globalist strategies for creating and alliance, ranging all the way from the people in the villages, via the trans nationally construct of Africa to the world. This way of grabbing the opportunities of globalisation and the subsequently assumed prospects of a future, which promises are being ensured, such as human rights, economic prosperity and most of all a member ship of a global community. This is the modernity ideal of the African Renaissance, the re-birth of an African identity in a hasty moving world. Very different units and objects are being drawn together, in order to over come the fact that they are very heterogeneous in nature [see e.g. Latour 1990] in order to ensure and accelerate a movement going towards global acceptance and unity and commune. As the notion of the African community is being drawn in as a symbol, then there is an emphasis on the commune aspect of globalisation through the acceptance of global values and the metaphor witnesses of a trans national space, yet based in a cultural anticipation of an African identity [Beck 2000 p.27] equally contributing to a change leading to the re-definition of Africa as being conceptual, rather than referring to a continent.
With the increase in the global flows of capital, the economic globalisation there is a worry of not obtaining a membership of the global commune as offered through globalisation. But the prospects of strengthening these links and the possibility entails a promise of obtaining what half a decade of international development aid has failed in doing so far: eradicating poverty at the African continent for the humanitarian ideal for improving the quality of life for its people. In the views of the South African government, the changing structures in international capitalism are not just offering un precedent opportunities for the continent, it is also being regarded as being imperative, that there is an active participation with a continuing effort for connecting domestic third world areas with domestic first world areas, as well as connecting third world nations (Africa) to first world nations (Europe/ North America) for targeting the main issue: Poverty, which equals a hindering factor for quality of life. [Maepa et al 2004 p.219]
Poverty Alleviation.
As many organisations World Bank is locating its initiatives for improving living conditions in the communities around the need for alleviating poverty [Beck 2000 p.155] and like the in rhetoric of the South African government is revolving around the issue of economy as an understanding of development and subsequently creates a rhetorical connection between the the poor rural areas and the dream of globalisation of using these new opportunities for improving socio-economic conditions. The effort of integrating economies and making connections between these (for South Africa: domestic: First World/Third World Internationally: Europe-United States / Africa).
This suggests that economic thinking of globalisation also entails a notion of a progress resembling the process of social transition that South Africa is currently undergoing.
The transformational process was initiated by the ANC, shortly after winning the elections in 1994 leading to a number of initiatives giving the previously disadvantaged groups the possibility to actively be included in the society and in this process become overcome the isolation promoted by the former apartheid government [de Klerk 2004] The profound social changes in the South African society, where the notion of the necessity for becoming included and connected to a larger context, and as such transcending localities
The arguments for putting an effort into having these areas into globalisation through the introduction ICTs, pretty much exists within what Beck refers to as globalism, as a result of a change in the notion of 'being global' (globality). In the case with South Africa, this neo-liberal globalism is associated strongly with the nationally based ideals of transition involving the endorsement of a united nation, democratic values, poverty alleviation and de-marginalisation of (previously) disadvantaged communities [Dlamini-Zuma, 2001 ].
This shows not only how South Africa is showing relating to globalisation, but, drawing on Tsing [2000] also shows, how this notion of globality is very much influenced by conditions, local to South Africa and that this discourse is for most of it produced by the South African government. In this context globalisation as globalism should be understood not as much as being external of South Africa, but should also be regarded as a matter created internally. The process of transition and, with the associated visions on the behalf of disadvantaged communities, can then also be understood as a local way of acting upon a locally based notion of globalism based on local perceptions of globality
According to Beck there is a need to see and realise the formation of the new networks that emerge through the increase in the number of transnational actors that have an impact on traditional nation-state decisions. He terms economic globalisation Globalism and argues that this is the reduced understanding of this development viewing purely as an economic matter of neo-liberalism, consequently not taking the multidimensionality of globalisation into account e.g. The cultural impacts [Beck 2000 p.15].
What is very central appears as very central is the focus on poverty alleviation, the quest for making sure that the economic prosperity is reaching the most distant areas in the country. The efforts are not just sought to be involving a national level, but equally strengthen the identity as African as opposed to Europe and yet equal in the competition [http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2001/text/at39.txt]. This involves a shift from an inhumane condition towards the global, which is associated with a sense of humanity, rights and improved quality of life. Based on this perception the communities that are located in specific areas are anticipated as being rural, poor and unable to take part in this opportunity for obtaining prosperity. The prosperity promise of globalisation is then being radicalised together with the promise of humanity. The previously ignored areas are changing their identity through this process, going from being ignored to become these areas that are excluded from their rights. In the knowledge society the values of democracy, human rights, dignity and economic prosperity melt together.
To understand and frame the term 'development' and subsequently the duality between 'developed' / 'underdeveloped' and go beyond why the structures were established and how it fits into the South African version of globalisation, it is relevant to look at how development and third world was created and is sustained, through the discourses around development aid [Banerjee et al. 2001].
The notion of development has been around for several hundreds of years, but most scholars agree that it was particularly endorsed by then US president Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address 1949, where he said:
“We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas...The old imperialism – exploitation for foreign profit – has no place in our plans.” [Banerjee 2001 p. 686]
Several observers and scholars argue, that the very notion of a third world was created by this speech. It is also argued that from that day two billion people became underdeveloped, in the sense that they became “ an inverted mirror of others' reality: a mirror that belittles them and send them off to the end of the queue, a mirror that defines their identity, which is really that of a heterogeneous and diverse majority, simply in the terms of a homogenising and narrow minoriy” [Banerjee 2001 p. 686]. The discursive labels had now been added to people in the third world as poor.
Later speeches by Harry S. Truman were furthering the arguments for promoting a development aiming at alleviating human misery through Western enlightenment, science and industry.
For Truman the concepts of economy, science and technology were the means to make this massive revolution possible and expand American values of peace and abundance though out the planet, following the American success in World War II [Escobar 2000 p. 20]. Moreover the policy would strengthen America and it is European allies a central role in world politics. During the following years the United Nations concluded, that old costumes and traditions were an obstacle towards economical progress and it therefore would be necessary for third world communities to pay the price of abandoning indigenous life styles and actively adopt foreign aid in order to become industrialised [Escobar, 2000 p. 20]. Thus the ideals of progress and prosperity became very central in the development discourse.
The strong emphasis on the necessity for involving technology and creating the knowledge society entails and emphasises this narrative of inclusion and as a natural part of globalisation. The information revolution has the claim of being global, and it is build around non-human actors, that link, connects, provides information for enlightening the population, it teaches and could even facilitate the establishment of businesses, which would mean a direct socio economic improvement to poor districts. The new opportunities in technology are widely embraced and in this sense are materialising and embodying the visions of linkage and connection In this way, the technological features of computer technology fit very well into this process of modernisation. Those parts of the country that was previously, intentionally left on the outside in an inhuman manner are envisioned being connected in the knowledge society also draws on the justice of the world community [Mbeki 1996]. The enlightenment entails, that the entire country should prosper in the knowledge society and eventually enjoys improved social and economic conditions through its newly acquired modernity.
In the understanding of this landscape in which these acts of globalisation take place it is necessary to understand what conditions that are making these localities target areas being global yet claiming to be local. [Tsing 2000]
In the South African context there is a large numbers of NGO's, mainly nationally based are basing their activities on these discourses, that have many similarities with the aims defined by the South African government, as means for becoming a developed global player.
In this way, transition, uplift of communities, development and globalisation, through their definition within a particular context situated in a specific setting, which makes these terms connected and relevant in understanding globalisation in South Africa. The creation of the information society in South Africa, and the future as connected to the global flows as a high tech e-nation, that prospers, is united and offer equal democratic rights and opportunities seems to be a part of this dream. As a part of this dream the aim is to create projects that will make these areas, that nationally and internationally are defined as underdeveloped a part of this revolution. Therefore these areas are particularly targeted for the introduction of ICTs, in order to live up to this modern world. Acquiring ICTs for a community like Thembalethu is then also a part of becoming modernised, and a part of a change, where living conditions are necessarily improved and through this outlines a clear rational for these communities to acquire ICTs, expelling other notions of the benefits of ICT as irrational. Moreover, the membership of the information society is also backed up by a strong actor, such as science, as the facilitating artefact for preparing the user for this new society, which is the outcome of government policy. The South African visions of a membership of a global information society, then very much resembles the internationally based discourses on development, and even amplifying the visions of positive social outcomes through this process of modernisation. The historical past of the country outlines imperative needs of de marginalising previously politically disadvantaged groups, which is embedded in the visions of a national modernisation and the central position of ICTs, as facilitating governance, education and the prospect of increased welfare, even amplify the imperative necessity of acquiring these technologies.
The South African ideal of using technology for modernising then be seen as resembling European ideals of modernising third world countries [Escobar 1995] and is highly consistent with western modernity theory which is being radicalised by outlining the necessity of getting areas in periphery of globalism, like Thembalethu, made modern. Therefore, in line with the argument of regarding the notions of globality and globalisation as being locally situated, this modernity ideal does in various ways represent a logocentric stand for the development of a country that in many ways is very diverse. This logocentrism, means that the ways this development is done can be questioned to a certain extent, but getting beyond the question of modernising it self, is not easy, as this would be considered as irrational [Escobar 2002]
Moreover, these visions are homogeneous in nature, as they are aiming at formulating one vision for a number of diverse communities, encompassing these in a national strategy. On this aspect, critical questions can be raised about this ideal of modernity
In order to acquire the possibility for obtaining this opportunity for obtaining a job a membership of the information society, even at the very local level is critical. However, these imperatives are being prolifirated from a central point, based on an external notion of modernity, entering the community. Like discussed earlier this raises questions about how this notion of the modern South Africa is having impact on the local modernity and how does this single notion of modernity impact the local, also when the community is being prescribed as being under resourced in terms of information and communication technologies, leaving it even further behind, the rest of the country.
In this way, the construction of the community as an IT-under resourced area in terms of infrastructure and skill set, is adding an additional pressure on these locations and individual participants, compared to other more resourced areas, of falling behind. The political priority seems to add to this pressure, and also potentially not giving the local communities the opportunity, to define how they want this ICT integration to take place, as the strong discourses do not in themselves allow space for questioning the issues about relevance. Even less, the standardised practices and notions of the global information society, entails a number of established axioms locking the community in a specific role and the role of ICTs as having specific outcomes.
Summery
The visions and imagination of globalisation outlined in documents issued by the South African government, shows that the village or in this context, the community plays an important role for describing people coming together, and rural areas are finally being included and even plays a crucial role in the visions of the African renaissance as a response to globalisation. Similarly the focus on poverty, appears a uniting the continent and seen as the main target to fight, in order to create a unity. These visions of Africa is a scale construction that requires communities in the picture of the traditional village and combined with the ideals of prosperity, democracy and freedom. Humanities seems to be reformulated in these visions, as a value everybody is entitled to; similarly, humanity entails the right for prosperity as logically opposed to poverty and in this way information and communication technologies plays a part of the freedom ideal, since these are held to empower the communities. However, the conceptualisation of community remains very homogenous; it appears as if Community entails: being rural, being poor and most of all being under developed. An imperative is outlined that these places need to become a part of the African renaissance. The consequence of this discourse is, that a particular role is assigned to these, otherwise heterogeneous entities. But the role tailored in discourse fits very well into the visions of a global Africa.
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