Peer review is often invisible work, but a vital part of keeping academic research rigorous and collaborative. Grateful for the opportunity to review for Wiley journals this past year.
Daivi Rodima-Taylor
@rodima.bsky.social
Social anthropology, human economies, fintech and inclusion, land and agrarian relations. Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/africa/profile/daivi-rodima-taylor/
#OpenAccess! Cryptopolitics: Exposure, Concealment, and Digital Media, edited by Victoria Bernal, Katrien Pype, and Daivi Rodima-Taylor @rodima.bsky.social is now available in paperback! Read more here: bit.ly/3TivfuQ #Anthropology #MediaStudies
Interesting discussion of the multiple temporal layers of digital land infrastructures. It highlights the potential of digitizing historical cadastral materials while asking whose rights and histories become visible in digital data. www.gim-international.com/article/hist...
Historical layers adding value to digital cadastres
Across the Global South, digital cadastres are being built. Maps, deeds and survey records that could fill the gaps already exist, albeit scattered across colonial repositories, national archives and ...
gim-international.com
Two of my co-edited volumes are being reissued in paperback: Land and the Mortgage: History, Culture, Belonging (April 2026), and Cryptopolitics: Exposure, Concealment, and Digital Media (September 2026). Glad to see both books reach new readers!
A new study of refugee remittances to IDPs in northern Syria shows how small hawala-based transfers perform important economic and social functions. “Dual precarity” usefully captures the economic insecurity of both refugee senders and displaced recipients. ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/js...
Refugees’ remittances to precarious IDPs in North Syria, Al-Raeai, between 2017 and 2023 | Journal of Social and Development Sciences
ojs.amhinternational.com
Pleased that my article, “Diaspora,” is forthcoming in Oxford Bibliographies in Gender and Women's Studies, as part of its Fall launch.
Nice to see some publishers offering review certificates as a small way of recognizing peer reviewers for their work
Glad to share that my chapter, “Rotating Credit Associations and Debt,” is part of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook on Debt. The handbook brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from around the world, examining how debt shapes power relations, inequality, and social change.
My book review on the history of street food in Kenya appears in Int. Journal of African Historical Studies 59(1), 2026. “Preparing the Modern Meal: Urban Capitalism & Working-Class Food in Kenya’s Port City,” by Devin Smart. Ohio State University Press. tinyurl.com/5y9hfehv
🌍 📖 ASC's African Ajami Project expands access to four major West African languages with groundbreaking initiatives and programs. Read more here: bit.ly/3Q1yPYI
How the African Ajami Project Is Transforming Access to West African Literature | The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies
bit.ly
A detailed reflection on our recent symposium “Cultures of Platformization in Africa” is now available in the Society for Social Studies of Science Backchannels: 4sonline.org/news_manager...
Cultures of Platformization in Africa
4sonline.org
Africa’s #AI trajectory may depend less on capital-intensive infrastructure and more on smaller, context-specific systems. Locally grounded applications designed for constrained environments may be more inclusive and adaptable dandc.eu/en/article/a...
How will Africa make use of AI? | D+C - Development + Cooperation
Artificial intelligence is increasingly framed as Africa’s next leapfrogging opportunity – a way for the continent to bypass traditional development stages and accelerate social inclusion. Yet Africa ...
dandc.eu
It was a pleasure to participate in our co-organized symposium "Cultures of Platformisation in Africa." Discussions explored how digital platforms shape economic & social life across the continent, while navigating the balance between innovation, security & local realities tinyurl.com/culturesplatf
Pleased to have contributed a chapter, "Rotating Credit Associations and Debt", to the forthcoming Routledge Handbook on Debt, out later this year.
Through oral histories of #work across four #African countries, this thought-provoking new book uncovers how decades of economic change have reshaped people’s biographies and livelihoods www.routledge.com/Working-Peop...
Working People Speak: Oral Histories of Neoliberal Africa
This book presents a re-engagement with oral histories as a way of documenting, understanding, and discussing experiences of work and economic life in Africa under neoliberal capitalism. It draws on s...
routledge.com
The integration of #AI into digital public infrastructure depends on institutional inheritance. In many developing countries, existing design and governance of identity systems, payment rails, and data exchange platforms shapes how AI is adopted in practice blog.mondato.com/how-dpi-dete...
How DPI Determines the Shape of Sovereign AI
As the sovereign AI race heats up, countries are now seeking to implement and integrate AI within their preexisting digital public infrastructure (DPI). At first blush, it may appear to be artificial ...
blog.mondato.com
A recent High Court ruling from #Kenya signals that business agreements reached through WhatsApp and SMS can be legally binding, with digital communication increasingly treated as standard commercial infrastructure rather than informal conversation. kenyanwallstreet.com/high-court-u...
High Court Upholds WhatsApp Agreements as Proof of Contract | The Kenyan Wallstreet
The High Court in Siaya has upheld a ruling that affirms that business agreements can be confirmed through WhatsApp and text messages
kenyanwallstreet.com
An interesting new article by Daniel Robins discusses how Venezuelan migrants, historically excluded from formal money transfer systems, have created new #remittance modalities and financial networks using #FinTech @financeandspace.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Alternative remittances to Venezuela: ad hoc technological diffusion and monetary pluralism
Venezuelan migrants have historically been excluded from formal money transfer systems. Consequently, the diaspora has a strong culture of using alternative remittance methods. This article examine...
tandfonline.com
Exciting update: Our edited volume “Land and the Mortgage” is getting a fresh paperback release in April 2026 @berghahnbooks.bsky.social www.berghahnbooks.com/title/rodima...
Africa is seeing significant growth in digital connectivity. Investments in submarine cables, satellite internet, and data centers are reshaping the digital landscape, and continued focus on mobile-first solutions facilitates affordable internet access african.business/2025/12/inno...
Global internet prices 2025: Where Africa stands in a rapidly connecting world - African Business
As global internet prices diverge in 2025, Africa shows both progress and persistent gaps—emerging as a mobile-data bright spot while high costs in other markets continue to constrain digital inclusio...
african.business
Rather than treating #AI risk in digital lending as a purely technical issue, new perspectives from #Africa argue for collaborative governance among regulators, investors, #fintechs & civil society, framing ethical AI as shared institutional responsibility nextbillion.net/ai-risk-mana...
AI Risk Management in Digital Finance: Protecting Africa's Underbanked from Invisible Threats
AI-powered lending tools offer new opportunities to reach the underbanked — but they also introduce new risks that lenders need to manage.
nextbillion.net