Nanjala Nyabola
Nanjala Nyabola | |
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Occupation | Writer and political analyst |
Nationality | Kenyan |
Education | Kianda School; University of Birmingham; University of Oxford; Harvard Law School |
Website | |
nanjalawrites |
Nanjala Nyabola is a Kenyan writer, political analyst, and activist based in Nairobi, Kenya.[1][2]
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
[edit]Nyabola holds multiple degrees in politics and law:[5]
- BA African Studies and Political Science, University of Birmingham
- MSc Forced Migration, University of Oxford
- MSc African Studies, University of Oxford
- J.D. from Harvard Law School
Journalism
[edit]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
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Nanjala_Nyabola_-_CC_by_Maria_Silvano_-_At_Disruption_Network_Lab_-_Hate_News_conference_2018-05-25.jpg/220px-Nanjala_Nyabola_-_CC_by_Maria_Silvano_-_At_Disruption_Network_Lab_-_Hate_News_conference_2018-05-25.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Future_Affairs_Berlin_2019_-_%E2%80%9ELaura_Rosenberger%2C_Uri_Rosenthal%2C_Andreas_Michaelis%2C_Nanjala_Nyabola%2C_Oliver_della_Costa_Stuenkel.jpg/220px-Future_Affairs_Berlin_2019_-_%E2%80%9ELaura_Rosenberger%2C_Uri_Rosenthal%2C_Andreas_Michaelis%2C_Nanjala_Nyabola%2C_Oliver_della_Costa_Stuenkel.jpg)
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
[edit]Books
[edit]- 2020: Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move – a collection of essays published 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 was positively received and featured in The Times Literary Supplement[45] and NPR[47] among 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]
- 2018: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya was published 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] Nyabola 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]
- 2018: Where Women Are: Gender & The 2017 Kenyan Elections (co-edited with Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle) was published by Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung and Twaweza Communications Ltd.[59]
Book chapters
[edit]- "Testimony as Text: Performative Vulnerability and the Limits of Legalistic Approaches to Refugee Protection". In African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict, published in 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield.[60]
- "Media Perspectives: Social Media and New Narratives: Kenyans Tweet Back". Chapter in Africa's Media Image in the 21st Century: From the 'Heart of Darkness' to 'Africa Rising', published in 2016 by Routledge
Papers
[edit]- Nyabola, Nanjala. “Kenyan Feminisms in the Digital Age.” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 3 & 4, 2018, pp. 261–72. JSTOR, https ://www.jstor.org/stable/26511346. Accessed 7 June 2024.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Prize Students Step-up to Receive Awards". University of Birmingham. 12 July 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ Adebanjo, Oluwayemisi (2019). "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya". African Studies Quarterly. 18 (4): 85–86.
- ^ a b deSouza, Priyanka (7 December 2018). "Book Review: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya by Nanjala Nyabola". LSE Review of Books. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Rhodes Scholar Database". Rhodes Trust. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Foreign Policy Interrupted | H. Nanjala Nyabola". Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "H. Nanjala Nyabola". Carey Institute for Global Good. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Our Board". Amnesty International Kenya. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola, Author at African Arguments". African Arguments. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola". Foreign Affairs. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola – Foreign Policy". Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Search for "nanjala nyabola" - New African Magazine". newafricanmagazine.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola | The New Humanitarian". www.thenewhumanitarian.org. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola". The New Inquiry. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Author Details". New Internationalist. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola". runner. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Search Results for "nanjala nyabola" – World Policy". Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Nyabola, Nanjala (2 January 2014). "Why do Western media get Africa wrong?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Gathara, Patrick (24 January 2014). "If western journalists get Africa wrong, who gets it right?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Wrong, Michela (21 February 2014). "In defence of western journalists in Africa". African Arguments. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Why do Western media get Africa wrong?". TMS Ruge. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "What does a round of 'African nations in high school' say about". The East African. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Dersso, Solomon (6 March 2014). "Reporting Africa: In defence of a critical debate". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Solomon, Salem (23 April 2014). "Examining the roots of biased reporting on Africa | Africa Talks". www.africa-talks.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ D.H. (24 January 2014). "Two tribes". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ a b "BBC World Service - World Have Your Say, Is it the media's responsibility to champion Africa, or simply understand it?". BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ Barber, Nicholas (2014). "Syllabus - Africa in Media and Pop Culture" (PDF). mcgill.ca. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Nyabola, Nanjala (5 May 2010). "Why, as an African, I took a Rhodes scholarship | Nanjala Nyabola". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Simpson, Jared Keller, Alex Eichler, Jake (5 May 2010). "5 Best Wednesday Columns". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "BBC World Service - Business Daily, Tackling Fake News". BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "BBC World Service - Focus on Africa, Political violence erupts in Guinea". BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "BBC World Service - Africa Today, Kenya Election Watch Special". BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "BBC World Service - Business Matters, Raila Odinga Calls for Boycott of Kenyan Elections". BBC. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Centre of African Studies: Events : Africa in 2019: Prospects & Forecasts". www.cas.ed.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Africa in 2018: Prospects & Forecasts | SOAS University of London". www.soas.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "NANJALA NYABOLA". SOAS African Development Forum. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Africa Table: Kenyan Feminisms in the Digital Age | Center for African Studies". africanstudies.stanford.edu. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Introducing: #rpAccra Speaker Nanjala Nyabola". re:publica. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "What Tech Can't Fix". re:publica 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "CIPESA-FIFAfrica2018-participant-Nanjala-Nyabola". Cipesa Events. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Nanjala Nyabola's schedule for RightsCon Tunis 2019". rightscon2019.sched.com. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Travelling While Black | Hurst Publishers". HURST. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Saro-Wiwa, Noo (15 January 2021). "Travelling While Black by Nanjala Nyabola book review | The TLS". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ a b Primorac, Ranka (3 July 2021). "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.
- ^ "Rewriting The Travel Guidebook With Nanjala Nyabola : Rough Translation". NPR.org. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics". ZED Books. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Book Review: Nanjala Nyabola, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya". From Poverty to Power. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ Nyayieka, Ivy (24 January 2019). "BOOK REVIEW: Kenya's digital democracy against analogue politics". Business Daily. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Podcast Ep 09: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics – Nanjala Nyabola". www.ids.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the digital era is transforming Kenya | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures". podcasts.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics". Berkman Klein Center. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Book Talk : What Technology Can't Fix by Nanjala Nyabola | Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research". wiser.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "On Digital Democracy in Kenya | Columbia SIPA". sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Old Civic Spaces in New Digital Places: Theorising Kenya's Digital Civil Society". Stanford PACS. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "talks.cam : Book launch with Nanjala Nyabola - in conversation with Dr Duncan Omanga (CGHR)". www.talks.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ Pilling, David (20 June 2019). "The fight to control Africa's digital revolution". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "Where Women Are: Gender & The 2017 Kenyan Elections". East & Horn of Africa: Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict. Rowman & Littlefield.
External links
[edit]- Living people
- 21st-century journalists
- 21st-century Kenyan women writers
- 21st-century women journalists
- Alumni of Harris Manchester College, Oxford
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- Feminist writers
- Harvard Law School alumni
- Kenyan academics
- Kenyan newspaper journalists
- Kenyan Rhodes Scholars
- Kenyan women journalists