Social media and the new struggles of young people against marginalisation: a challenge to missional ecclesiology in Southern Africa

Abstract

Social media technologies have become a prominent feature of public life, but also the personal lives of young people. The question is whether the academic discourses on the missional church in southern Africa have taken this trend into consideration adequately. This article addresses this question by introducing a postcolonial missiological perspective on social media and the new struggles of young people against marginalisation. Through a literature review, the article appropriates research from sociologists, in particular Manuel Castells, firstly to show how subjects are constructed in this new, networked world order and secondly to show how social transformation is framed and engendered. It is concluded that these findings are the basis for the notion of the missional church as a social network. It is recommended that a subtheme, which prioritises the role of social media in this age of the network society, be established in the academic discourse on the southern African missional church in order to continue the dialogue with young people in their contemporary struggles.

Comparative digital protest cultures in South Africa and Tamil Nadu: #feesmustfall, #Jallikattu, and Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) - a case of surveillance and diasporic potential

“…There has been extensive literature examining digital protest culture in South Africa and India, specifically related to #feesmustfall, Abahlali baseMjondolo and #Jallikattu, respectively. There are studies (Bosch 2016, Nel 2016, Olorunnisola and Martin 2013) which compare the European, American, and Arab perspectives of social movements with African perspectives. Significant to our paper is Munoriyarwa's (2022) account of the militarisation of digital surveillance in Zimbabwe, providing a regional account of a troubling trend in digital surveillance as a militarised tool against protest.…”

Youth marginalisation as a faith-based concern in contemporary South African society: Introducing a research contribution

“…For him, in both instances of methodological construction, the agency or social movement role of youths themselves has to stand in the centre of how Christian churches or faith communities ought to relate to and support the contemporary youth struggles against marginalisation in South Africa. And in this sense, furthermore, an understanding of marginalisation and authentic FBO involvement has to be directly related to the 'new struggles' of young people themselves for identity, recognition and socio-economic opportunity in a postcolonial, neo-liberal context driven by global political economic and technological forces (Nel 2014;Nel 2015a).…”