[Air-L] New Book: China, Africa, and the Future of the Internet

[Iginio Gagliardone]

New Book: *China, Africa, and the Future of the Internet*
By: Iginio Gagliardone

https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/china-africa-and-the-future-of-the-internet/

China is transforming Africa's information space. It is assisting African
broadcasters with extensive loans, training and exchange programmes and has
set up its own media operations on the continent in the form of CCTV/CGTN
Africa. In the telecommunications sector, China is helping African
governments to expand access to the internet and mobile phones, with rapid
and large-scale success. While Western countries have ambiguously linked
the need to fight security threats with restrictions of the information
space, China has been vocal in asserting the need to control communication
to ensure stability and development.

Featuring a wealth of interviews with a variety of actors – from Chinese
and African journalists in Chinese media to Chinese workers for major
telecommunication companies – this highly original book demonstrates how
China is both contributing to the 'Africa rising' narrative while
exploiting the weaknesses of Western approaches to Africa, which remain
trapped between an emphasis on stability and service delivery, on the one
hand, and the desire to advocate human rights and freedom of expression on
the other. Arguing no state can be understood without attention to its
information structure, the book provides the first assessment of China’s
new model for the media strategies of developing states, and the
consequences of policing Africa’s information space for geopolitics,
security and citizenship.

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'Impressive and rigorous, *China, Africa and the Future of the
Internet* respects
different schools of thought regarding the internet and development, whilst
providing a critique that is schooled and convincing. Gagliardone takes an
issue of great importance and brings fresh and penetrating analysis to it.'
Monroe E. Price, Annenberg School for Communication, University of
Pennsylvania

'A very original, rigorous and well-cited contribution to the wider field
of China-Africa studies and the current global conversation on internet
governance. China, Africa and the Future of the Internet provides a useful
counter-perspective to the dominant discourse around internet governance
which tends to focus on the global north, excluding the notable
developments in internet governance taking place in the global south.'
Cobus van Staden, Co-host of the China in Africa Podcast

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ZED Publishers is offering this book at a *discounted price* until 24th
October 2019
It can be purchased in paperback, epub, and Kindle versions at half of the
price (£ 9.50)
https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/china-africa-and-the-future-of-the-internet/