Video by: Melissa Edoh (2010)
Lately, seeing flyers about technology-oriented development projects targeting Africa around MIT has had me reflecting on the history of "technology transfer" in Africa; mainly because the language of international development often sounds to me like an updated version of the language used to justify missionary work and colonial ventures on the continent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And so (without getting into the specifics of this particular issue - that will hopefully come later), this short video attempts to make a case for the importance of paying attention to the social, historical and political dimensions of technological development, especially in a transnational context.