The local, the global, and the self : an ethnographic account of a community Computer Centre in Carnarvon, Northern Cape, and its significance for its users' sense of self andtheir place in the world

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this thesis has been on the local participants in computer education courses that are provided bythe Siyafunda Computer and Technology Centre at Kareeberg library in Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.The aim of the Computer Centre is to introduce the rural community to basic computer technology and topromote computer literacy and thereby improve their job opportunities and better their livelihoods. TheCentre was launched on 19 November 2013 with the slogan 'leer, motiveer & inspireer' [learn, motivate andinspire], and is a partnership between inter alia the Department of Science and Technology (DST), theSquare Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA-SA) and SiyafundaCTC. The SKA is an internationally drivenproject located on a cluster of farms between the towns of Brandvlei, Vanwyksvlei, Carnarvon and Williston,and when completed it will be the biggest and most advanced radio telescope in the world. The presence ofthe SKA in this area of the Karoo has brought changes to the surrounding communities, and in particularCarnarvon, which have proven to be a significant part of the context for this research project.The main research site for this project has been the Computer Centre, and within this setting I have exploredwhat impact the promise of being able to use computers and have access to the internet has had on the livesof the people who have made use of these facilities. Additionally, I looked at whether and how basiceducation in computer technology may shift the way participants look at themselves, their local environment,and the wider world 'out there'. This has been done through the conceptual lens of 'criticalcosmopolitanism', to provide an understanding how computer technology can open up local views to globalperspectives and unpack the tensions that may arise between local, national and global spheres.In conducting this study an ethnographic research methodology has been adopted in which participantobservation and 'hanging' out in the Centre as well as in the town of Carnarvon have been central researchmethods. By engaging with students, staff, recreational users, and casual visitors of the Centre I developedinsights into how the use of computers and internet may affects their everyday lives, how they think abouttheir local community and what it means to open up their ideas of the world 'out there' to a more open andglobal worldview.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University