Adopting an African Standpoint in HCI4D: : A Provocation

Adamu, Muhammad Sadi (2020) Adopting an African Standpoint in HCI4D: : A Provocation. In: CHI '2020 : Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts. ACM, New York, pp. 1-8. ISBN 9781450368193

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Abstract

While studies in HCI4D have been advanced by the shift of perspective from developmental studies to a range of other discourses, current analytical concepts for understanding the sociality of society in Africa have arguably led to some misinterpretations of the place of technology. This provocation suggests that an ‘African Standpoint’ based on a combination of various standpoint positionalities and the Wittgensteinian approach of Winch can offer conceptual and analytical sensitivities for articulating social relations, transnational engagements and the conceptualisation of technological innovation. This provides an approach for seeing and accounting for things as they are – right here, right there and right now – and not some idealised conception of an African reality.