The Global Smartphone: Beyond a youth technology

The smartphone is often literally right in front of our nose, so you would think we would know what it is. But do we? To find out, 11 anthropologists each spent 16 months living in communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, focusing on the take up of smartphones by older people. Their research reveals that smartphones are technology for everyone, not just for the young. The Global Smartphone presents a series of original perspectives deriving from this global and comparative research project. Smartphones have become as much a place within which we live as a device we use to provide ‘perpetual opportunism’, as they are always with us. The authors show how the smartphone is more than an ‘app device’ and explore differences between what people say about smartphones and how they use them. The smartphone is unprecedented in the degree to which we can transform it. As a result, it quickly assimilates personal values. In order to comprehend it, we must take into consideration a range of national and cultural nuances, such as visual communication in China and Japan, mobile money in Cameroon and Uganda, and access to health information in Chile and Ireland – all alongside diverse trajectories of ageing in Al Quds, Brazil and Italy. Only then can we know what a smartphone is and understand its consequences for people’s lives around the world

El Smartphone Global: Más allá de una tecnología para jóvenes - A Spanish Translation of The Global Smartphone

El smartphone suele estar literalmente frente a nuestras narices, por eso creemos saber lo que es. ¿Pero lo sabemos? Para responder a esta pregunta, once antropólogos vivieron durante 16 meses en comunidades de África, Asia, Europa y Sudamérica, enfocándose en el uso de smartphones por gente mayor. Sus investigaciones revelan que son una tecnología para todos, no solo para los jóvenes. El Smartphone Global presenta una serie de nuevas perspectivas que emergen de este proyecto de investigación global y comparativo. El smartphone se ha convertido tanto en un lugar dentro del cual vivimos como en un aparato que usamos para tener “oportunismo perpetuo”, pues siempre está con nosotros. Los autores muestran cómo el smartphone es más que un “aparato con aplicaciones” y exploran las diferencias entre lo que las personas dicen de él y la forma en cómo lo usan. El smartphone no tiene precedentes por el grado en el cual podemos transformarlo. Como resultado, rápidamente asimila nuestros valores personales. Para comprenderlo debemos considerar una serie de matices nacionales y culturales, tales como la comunicación visual en China y Japón, el dinero móvil en Camerún y Uganda, y el acceso a la información de salud en Chile e Irlanda, junto a las diversas trayectorias del envejecimiento en Al-Quds, Brasil e Italia. Solo entonces sabremos qué es el smartphone y podremos comprender sus consecuencias en las vidas de las personas alrededor del mundo

LAMP4yaws: Treponema pallidum, Haemophilus ducreyi loop mediated isothermal amplification - protocol for a cross-sectional, observational, diagnostic accuracy study.

INTRODUCTION: Yaws, caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue, is a neglected tropical disease targeted for eradication by 2030. Improved diagnostics will be essential to meet this goal. Diagnosis of yaws has relied heavily on clinical and serological tools. However, the presence of coendemic cutaneous skin ulcer diseases, such as lesions caused by Haemophilus ducreyi (HD), means these techniques do not provide a reliable diagnosis. Thus, new diagnostic tools are needed. Molecular tools such as PCR are ideal, but often expensive as they require trained technicians and laboratory facilities, which are often not available to national yaws programmes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The LAMP4yaws project is a cross-sectional, observational, diagnostic accuracy study of a combined Treponema pallidum (TP) and HD loop mediated isothermal amplification (TPHD-LAMP) test performed under real world conditions in three endemic countries in West Africa. Individuals with serologically confirmed yaws will be recruited in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Each participant will provide paired swabs, one of which will be sent to the respective national reference laboratory for yaws quantitative PCR and the other will be tested for both TP and HD using the TPHD-LAMP test at local district laboratories. Sensitivity and specificity of the TPHD-LAMP test will be calculated against the reference standard qPCR. We will also assess the acceptability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the test. We anticipate that results from this study will support the adoption of the TPHD-LAMP test for use in global yaws eradication efforts. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We have received ethical approval from all relevant institutional and national ethical committees. All participants, or their parents or guardians, must provide written informed consent prior to study enrolment. Study results will be published in an open access journal and disseminated with partners and the World Health Organization. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04753788

Senegal: Presidential elections 2019 - The shining example of democratic transition immersed in muddy power-politics

Whereas Senegal has long been sold as a showcase of democracy in Africa, including peaceful political alternance, things apparently changed fundamentally with the Senegalese presidentials of 2019 that brought new configurations. One of the major issues was political transhumance that has been elevated to the rank of religion in defiance of morality. It threatened political stability and peace. In response, social networks of predominantly young activists, created in 2011 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring focused on grass-roots advocacy with the electorate on good governance and democracy. They proposed a break with a political system that they consider as neo-colonialist. Moreover, Senegal’s justice is frequently accused to be biased, and the servility of the Constitutional Council which is in the first place an electoral court has often been denounced

Cameroun, l'Etat stationnaire [dossier]

Entre la guerre civile dans les deux régions anglophones du Cameroun et la menace terroriste de Boko Haram dans l'Extrême-Nord, la propagande du régime de Paul Biya autour de "la paix et la stabilité", fragile mais réelle pendant des années, vole en éclats. Pour se maintenir, le régime avait mis en place une dérégulation morale, sociale et économique. Fondée sur la redistribution clientéliste et le contrôle des élites politiques, cet ethos de la manducation s'est nourri d'un immobilisme ontologique. C'est l'État stationnaire dont ce dossier se saisit. Les nouvelles figures composites de l'opposition ont cependant mis à profit les réseaux sociaux et les projecteurs médiatiques braqués sur le pays. Se dessinent trois avenirs possibles : l'implosion, le maintien du statu quo ou la renaissance. Les articles de ce dossier attestent tous d'une gouvernance centripète de la régulation des arènes politiques et de l'action publique. Le Cameroun entre néanmoins dans une ère pleine d'incertitudes et riche de leçons politiques

Homophobic Africa? Toward a more nuanced view

The recent emergence of homosexuality as a central issue in public debate in various parts of Africa has encouraged a stereotypical image of one homophobic Africa, often placed in opposition to a tolerant or depraved West. What is striking is that this image of Africa as homophobic is promoted by both traditionalists who insist that homosexuality is a Western intrusion and by the Western media that focus on homophobic statements from African political and religious leaders. What both neglect, however, is the existence of internal debate and disagreements among Africans on the subject of homosexuality. In this article we try to counter this image of a homophobic Africa with a more nuanced discussion, including a comparison of different trajectories in the emergence of homosexuality as a public issue in four countries (Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa). The comparison highlights considerable variations in the ways in which the issue became politicized. There is a world of difference, for example, between the image of the homosexual as un Grand (a rich and powerful "Big Man") who imposes anal penetration as a supreme form of subjection (as in Cameroon or Gabon, where homosexuality is associated with witchcraft and other occult forces; compare Achille Mbembe's visionary evocation of a "phallocracy") and the often quite marginal persons who become victims of gay persecution in other contexts. More insight into the variations of what is loosely and inaccurately called "homophobia" can help connect international pressures for decriminalization and protection to local circumstances. Working through local activists is crucial for the effort to counter homophobia in Africa

Une Afrique homophobe? Sur quelques trajectoires de politisation de l'homosexualité: Cameroun, Ouganda, Sénégal et Afrique du Sud

Homophobic Africa? Towards a More Nuanced View The recent emergence of homosexuality as a central issue in public debate in various parts of Africa has encouraged a stereotypical image of one homophobic Africa, often placed in opposition to a tolerant or depraved West. What is striking is that this image of Africa as homophobic is promoted by both traditionalists who insist that homosexuality is a Western intrusion and by the Western media that focus on homophobic statements from African political and religious leaders. What both neglect, however, is the existence of internal debate and disagreements among Africans on the subject of homosexuality. In this article we try to counter this image of a homophobic Africa with a more nuanced discussion, including a comparison of different trajectories in the emergence of homosexuality as a public issue in four countries (Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa). The comparison highlights considerable variations in the ways in which the issue became politicized. There is a world of difference, for example, between the image of the homosexual as un Grand (a rich and powerful "Big Man") who imposes anal penetration as a supreme form of subjection (as in Cameroon or Gabon, where homosexuality is associated with witchcraft and other occult forces ; compare Achille Mbembe’s visionary evocation of a phallocracy) and the often quite marginal persons who become victims of gay persecution in other contexts. More insight into the variations of what is loosely and inaccurately called "homophobia" can help connect international pressures for decriminalization and protection to local circumstances. Working through local activists is crucial for the effort to counter homophobia in Africa. La récente émergence de l'homosexualité comme enjeu central dans le débat public de nombreuses régions d'Afrique, a alimenté l'image stéréotypée d'une Afrique homophobe, souvent opposée à un Occident tolérant (ou dépravé). Il est frappant que cette image de l'Afrique homophobe soit à la fois promue par les traditionnalistes qui décrivent l'homosexualité comme une intrusion occidentale, et par les médias occidentaux qui se focalisent sur les déclarations homophobes des leaders politiques et religieux africains. Cependant, dans les deux cas, est négligée l'existence de débats internes et de désaccords parmi les Africains sur le thème de l'homosexualité. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à proposer un contrepoint à cette image de l'Afrique homophobe en développant une analyse plus nuancée basée sur une comparaison de différentes trajectoires de l'émergence de l'homosexualité comme enjeu public dans quatre pays (le Sénégal, le Cameroun, l'Ouganda et l'Afrique du Sud). La comparaison permet de souligner des variations considérables dans les façons dont l'enjeu a été politisé. Il y a par exemple une grande différence entre l'image de l'homosexuel comme un « Grand » (un homme riche et puissant) qui impose la pénétration anale comme forme suprême d'assujettissement (comme au Cameroun ou au Gabon où l'homosexualité est associée à la sorcellerie et d'autres forces occultes de sorte que ce type d'« homosexuel » devient un figure extrême de ce qu'Achille Mbembé a appelé la « phallocratie ») d'une part, et les personnes souvent moins privilégiées qui sont les victimes des persécutions contre l'homosexualité dans d'autres contextes. Une réflexion plus fine sur les variations de ce qui est trop facilement et de façon inadéquate appelée « homophobie » peut ainsi servir à mettre en lien les pressions internationales en faveur de la décriminalisation et de la protection avec les contextes locaux. Le travail avec les activistes locaux reste crucial quant aux efforts consacrés à contrer l'homophobie en Afrique

Cameroun, l'Etat stationnaire [dossier]

Entre la guerre civile dans les deux régions anglophones du Cameroun et la menace terroriste de Boko Haram dans l'Extrême-Nord, la propagande du régime de Paul Biya autour de "la paix et la stabilité", fragile mais réelle pendant des années, vole en éclats. Pour se maintenir, le régime avait mis en place une dérégulation morale, sociale et économique. Fondée sur la redistribution clientéliste et le contrôle des élites politiques, cet ethos de la manducation s'est nourri d'un immobilisme ontologique. C'est l'État stationnaire dont ce dossier se saisit. Les nouvelles figures composites de l'opposition ont cependant mis à profit les réseaux sociaux et les projecteurs médiatiques braqués sur le pays. Se dessinent trois avenirs possibles : l'implosion, le maintien du statu quo ou la renaissance. Les articles de ce dossier attestent tous d'une gouvernance centripète de la régulation des arènes politiques et de l'action publique. Le Cameroun entre néanmoins dans une ère pleine d'incertitudes et riche de leçons politiques