Symposium: Cultures of Platformisation in Africa

What are the social and cultural implications of platforms and platformisation in Africa? This in-person and online seminar critically assesses accelerating and expansive platformisation

Digital platforms significantly shape everyday economic, social, and political life in Africa. This landscape is underpinned by a combination of economic, political and cultural logics and practices, both global and local. As platforms extend their business into the social fabric of the continent, states deliberate the appropriate policy environment to drive platforms to balance innovation and security, and citizen, corporate, and state interests. The merits and harms of platforms are contested. They have been critiqued as replicators of colonial circuits of power that reinforce historical, perhaps racialised, inequities. The University of Leeds and Boston University invite presentations for a hybrid interdisciplinary symposium about the social and cultural properties and impacts of platformisation in Africa.

Enquires and requests to attend may be sent to platforms.africa@leeds.ac.uk.

Those wishing to present research should send a 300w abstract to the above email before 6 February 2026.

This symposium is hosted by the School of Media and Communication Global Communication Research Group in collaboration with the Leeds University Centre for African Studies, POLIS, and the Boston University Center for African Studies.