Contradictory Connectivity: Spatial Imaginaries and Technomediated Positionalities in Kenya's Outsourcing Sector

Abstract

E ast A frica has trad itio n ally been characterized by sta rk b arriers to n o n p ro x im ate co m m u n icatio n a n d flows o f in fo rm atio n . It was the w o rld 's last m a jo r region w ith o u t fibre-optic b ro a d b a n d In tern et access, an d until the sum m er o f 2009 h ad been forced to rely on slow an d costly satellite connectivity. T his all changed when the first o f fo u r fibreo p tic cables was connected in K enya: bringing w ith it the prom ise o f fast an d affordable In tern et access fo r the m asses, an d the ability o f th e co u n try to m ove tow ards a know ledgebased econom y. W ithin the context o f this m o m en t o f change, th is p ap er explores the ways th a t m an ag ers o f outso u rcin g firm s envisage 'connectivity.' O ver the co u rse o f fo rty -o n e interview s, co n tra d icto ry spatial im aginaries were discovered. W hen describing th eir p erceptions o f the c o u n try 's new technom ediated positionalities, m any interview ees rep eated visions th a t allow ed geographic frictions to ev ap o rate. B ut w hen m an ag ers were asked a b o u t their actual m ediated positionalities, they presen ted a very different w orld: o ne o f b arriers, frictions, an d th e very real role th a t d istance con tin u es to play in the w o rld 's econom ic peripheries.T he goal o f this p ap e r is to in te rro g a te why we see such sta rk disconnects betw een perceptions an d practices o f connectivity. T h e co n trad ictio n s co uld be seen as an exposition o f a scalar schism betw een in te rn atio n a lly o p era tin g regim es o f tru th (ie, pow erful discourses th a t have their origin nonlocally) an d local experiences a n d practices in K enya. A lternatively, we can th in k a b o u t the co n tra d icto ry acco u n ts o f connectivity as em ergent from strategic spatial essentialism s th a t are practised to achieve p articu la r goals. By focusing on the co n tra d ictio n s em bed d ed in to the ways in w hich people speak a b o u t connectivity in the K enyan o u tso u rcin g sector, we can learn m uch a b o u t how arg u m en ts a b o u t the entanglem ent o f connectivity, grow th, an d developm ent are o perationalized. 'C onnectivity' is offered as a necessary, an d som etim es even sufficient, co n d itio n from w hich grow th an d econom ic developm ent can be b ro u g h t in to being: a set o f sp atial im aginaries th a t conveniently s u p p o rt a n atio n al developm ent strateg y o f rem aking K enya in the co n tem p o rary know ledge econom y.

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