By Victoria Luxen (Project C01 Future in Chains).
From February 24 to 27, 2025, I participated in the workshop “Writing about Platformization from Africa” at the University of Cape Town. Funded by the British Academy, the workshop brought together scholars from Africa, Europe, and the US to exchange insights on platformization, with a focus on enhancing academic publishing skills.
Platformization refers to the expansion of digital platforms, which are online infrastructures that facilitate interactions between users, businesses, and services. These platforms, such as social media networks or gig economy apps shape economic, social, and cultural exchanges through data-driven business models, often reinforcing existing power dynamics and inequalities.
The workshop enriched my work within the Collaborative Research Centre TRR Future Rural Africa on multiple levels. In terms of content, it contributed valuable insights to my dissertation (working title: Global Value Chains and Local Realities: Future-Making through Intensification, Digitalization, and Agricultural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa). My research examines the digitalization of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the involvement of German actors, their motivations, and their strategies. Digital agricultural platforms play a crucial role in this process, and many of the broader platformization debates, such as those on data ownership and labour exploitation, sparked engaging discussions that enabled cross-sectoral comparisons and offered new perspectives on platform dynamics.
Methodologically, the workshop offered valuable sessions on improving writing skills, selecting journals, and navigating the review process. Some sessions also provided inspiration on methods to integrate creative and embodied writing as well as ethnographic elements into scientific writing. These four days served as a great opportunity to connect with other researchers working on platform research from an African perspective.
Participants came from different academic backgrounds (e.g., Geography, Anthropology, Urban Studies) and discussed topics such as the platformization of music, transport, and the economy and their impacts on gender issues, social inequalities, and political revolutions. I contributed to the discussions with a draft on the role of German actors in digital technology in African agriculture.
One of the highlights was the field trip to a Teraco data center in Cape Town, which challenged the perception of the internet as an abstract concept by revealing the complex physical infrastructure and the immense resource demands required to power data operations. An insightful presentation on connectivity and data centers in Africa, particularly in South Africa, provided a deeper understanding of the region’s digital landscape.
Another memorable moment was the keynote speech by William Shoki, Editor of Africa is a Country. He discussed what it means to write from Africa from a critical and decolonial perspective.
I would like to thank the entire team of organizers, mentors and speakers for selecting my application and making it possible for me to learn in such an enriching and inspiring environment. Special thanks go to Liza R. Cirolia and Andrea Pollio for organizing the workshop, and to Amir Anwar for mentoring me during and beyond the event.
Title Image: African Centre for Cities
