A Critical exploration of YouTube texts by and about people with disabilities in South Africa
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468129 , vital:77021 , https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18303
- Description: The work of intellectuals such as Marx and Gramsci has been exten-sively employed in the study of social inequalities across contexts and in relation to different dimensions. As one of the most unequal societies in the world, South Africa provides a number of past and recent exam-ples of discrimination, oppression and violence on the basis of race, gender, socio-economic and migrant status, political affiliation etc. De-spite their continued marginalisation during and after apartheid and de-spite accounting for a substantial portion (7.5%) of the population, peo-ple with disabilities appear relatively neglected in scholarly and media debates. The booming Internet and mobile penetration, which promised to give a voice to the voiceless, increasingly seems to reproduce and at times exacerbate such marginalisation. By drawing on Gramsci’s no-tions of hegemony and public intellectuals, in this paper, I explore dis-cursive constructions by and about South Africans with disabilities on YouTube. Videos and comments are purposively selected from three active channels based on their relevance and are quantitatively as well as qualitatively analysed. The first objective of the study is to under-stand disability in relation to other dimensions of diversity, eg race or gender.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468129 , vital:77021 , https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18303
- Description: The work of intellectuals such as Marx and Gramsci has been exten-sively employed in the study of social inequalities across contexts and in relation to different dimensions. As one of the most unequal societies in the world, South Africa provides a number of past and recent exam-ples of discrimination, oppression and violence on the basis of race, gender, socio-economic and migrant status, political affiliation etc. De-spite their continued marginalisation during and after apartheid and de-spite accounting for a substantial portion (7.5%) of the population, peo-ple with disabilities appear relatively neglected in scholarly and media debates. The booming Internet and mobile penetration, which promised to give a voice to the voiceless, increasingly seems to reproduce and at times exacerbate such marginalisation. By drawing on Gramsci’s no-tions of hegemony and public intellectuals, in this paper, I explore dis-cursive constructions by and about South Africans with disabilities on YouTube. Videos and comments are purposively selected from three active channels based on their relevance and are quantitatively as well as qualitatively analysed. The first objective of the study is to under-stand disability in relation to other dimensions of diversity, eg race or gender.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Celebrating authentic bodies: Instagram (self) representations of models
- Battisti, Fabiana, Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Authors: Battisti, Fabiana , Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468151 , vital:77024 , DOI Code: 10.1285/i22840753n25p7
- Description: South African society is characterized by a historical legacy of institutionalized segregation and oppression along racial and, to a lesser extent, gender and (dis) ability lines. While social media can be considered a relatively elite phenomenon, it has the potential to challenge stereotypes and reshape public discourse. Beauty contests, fashion shows and modelling parades represent offline as well as online sites of struggle over aesthetic canons, aspirational looks, and ideal bodies. At the same time, they offer opportunities for alternative, marginalized and stigmatized bodies to" step into the light", as it were. Due to the primacy of the visual element, a platform like Instagram offers a rather unique opportunity to affirm that racialized, gendered and disabled bodies are not only normal, but authentically beautiful. In this paper we adopt an intersectional lens to investigate Instagram profiles by South African models with disabilities. Five women who differ in terms of ethnic affiliation as well as impairment were selected for an in-depth qualitative critical visual analysis and an ethnographic content analysis. In a South African context still largely shaped by patriarchy, sexism and ableism, we found (self) representations on social media are intimately intertwined with resistance, advocacy and social change. Self-representations by models with disabilities include sharing authentic aspects of self, affirmation, and role modelling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Battisti, Fabiana , Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468151 , vital:77024 , DOI Code: 10.1285/i22840753n25p7
- Description: South African society is characterized by a historical legacy of institutionalized segregation and oppression along racial and, to a lesser extent, gender and (dis) ability lines. While social media can be considered a relatively elite phenomenon, it has the potential to challenge stereotypes and reshape public discourse. Beauty contests, fashion shows and modelling parades represent offline as well as online sites of struggle over aesthetic canons, aspirational looks, and ideal bodies. At the same time, they offer opportunities for alternative, marginalized and stigmatized bodies to" step into the light", as it were. Due to the primacy of the visual element, a platform like Instagram offers a rather unique opportunity to affirm that racialized, gendered and disabled bodies are not only normal, but authentically beautiful. In this paper we adopt an intersectional lens to investigate Instagram profiles by South African models with disabilities. Five women who differ in terms of ethnic affiliation as well as impairment were selected for an in-depth qualitative critical visual analysis and an ethnographic content analysis. In a South African context still largely shaped by patriarchy, sexism and ableism, we found (self) representations on social media are intimately intertwined with resistance, advocacy and social change. Self-representations by models with disabilities include sharing authentic aspects of self, affirmation, and role modelling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Mobile communication and urban/rural flows in a South African marginalised community
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468162 , vital:77025 , https://doi.org/10.1177/000276422210928
- Description: This article draws on Castells’ concept of space of flows to explore the role of mobile communication in mediating the flows of ideas, people and resources concerning Dwesa, a rural community in South Africa. While it is the site of an ICT-for-development project fifteen years in the making, Dwesa is representative of many contemporary South African rural realities in terms of lack of infrastructure, endemic poverty and ur-ban migration. Mobile network coverage is almost universal, sustaining a bidirectional flow of people, resources and information between Dwe-sa and urban areas such as Cape Town. A critical review of the sub-stantial body of research conducted in the area, as well as thematic analysis of social media texts and semi-structured interviews with community members, reveal that mobile phones play an important and nuanced role in arranging physical or virtual rendezvous, facilitating transfers of monetary and other resources, and enabling timeless communication and exchange of information across distance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468162 , vital:77025 , https://doi.org/10.1177/000276422210928
- Description: This article draws on Castells’ concept of space of flows to explore the role of mobile communication in mediating the flows of ideas, people and resources concerning Dwesa, a rural community in South Africa. While it is the site of an ICT-for-development project fifteen years in the making, Dwesa is representative of many contemporary South African rural realities in terms of lack of infrastructure, endemic poverty and ur-ban migration. Mobile network coverage is almost universal, sustaining a bidirectional flow of people, resources and information between Dwe-sa and urban areas such as Cape Town. A critical review of the sub-stantial body of research conducted in the area, as well as thematic analysis of social media texts and semi-structured interviews with community members, reveal that mobile phones play an important and nuanced role in arranging physical or virtual rendezvous, facilitating transfers of monetary and other resources, and enabling timeless communication and exchange of information across distance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Please Do Not Call It Human Right: A Southern Epistemological Perspective on the Digital Inclusion of People With Disabilities in South Africa
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468228 , vital:77034 , ISBN 9781003388289 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003388289-5/please-call-human-right-lorenzo-dalvit
- Description: South Africa is one of the world’s most unequal countries and has a well-known past of serious human rights abuses. Despite a progressive legal system, a relatively large economy, and one of the highest rates of Internet penetrations on the African continent, social inequalities extend to the digital domain. While digital inclusion for all is inscribed as a desirable goal in policy documents, in practice this is not the case. The rights based on which policy documents rely and from which much of the formal civil society sector draws is rooted in Western understanding of concepts such as “dignity”, “ability”, “inclusion”, and even “disability” itself. Employing a decolonial approach, this chapter problematises narratives about the digital inclusion of people with disabilities. It argues that for South Africans with disabilities, benefitting from government interventions and enforcing their rights depend to a large extent on their socio-economic background. An emerging body of research documents challenges associated with the new forms of exclusion/invisibility of people with disabilities online, such as inaccessible software/hardware, a steep learning curve, or the practice of hiding one’s disability to avoid pity or stigma. The ubiquity of digital technology makes digital inclusion of people with disabilities more of a necessity rather than a choice or a right.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468228 , vital:77034 , ISBN 9781003388289 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003388289-5/please-call-human-right-lorenzo-dalvit
- Description: South Africa is one of the world’s most unequal countries and has a well-known past of serious human rights abuses. Despite a progressive legal system, a relatively large economy, and one of the highest rates of Internet penetrations on the African continent, social inequalities extend to the digital domain. While digital inclusion for all is inscribed as a desirable goal in policy documents, in practice this is not the case. The rights based on which policy documents rely and from which much of the formal civil society sector draws is rooted in Western understanding of concepts such as “dignity”, “ability”, “inclusion”, and even “disability” itself. Employing a decolonial approach, this chapter problematises narratives about the digital inclusion of people with disabilities. It argues that for South Africans with disabilities, benefitting from government interventions and enforcing their rights depend to a large extent on their socio-economic background. An emerging body of research documents challenges associated with the new forms of exclusion/invisibility of people with disabilities online, such as inaccessible software/hardware, a steep learning curve, or the practice of hiding one’s disability to avoid pity or stigma. The ubiquity of digital technology makes digital inclusion of people with disabilities more of a necessity rather than a choice or a right.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
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