NETWORK SOVEREIGNTY: A Comparative Study of Local Network Initiatives in Rural, Low-income Communities

This three-year project (2018-2021), supported by the National Science Foundation (award 1755106), used fieldwork and ethnographic methods to investigate how low-income, rural communities conceptualize and practice “network sovereignty” in relation to local network initiatives. Focusing on three case studies — a) the Serengeti Broadband Network in Tanzania; b) the Rhizomatica Project in Oaxaca, Mexico; and c) the Blackfeet Community College (BCC) in Browning, Montana — the project explored whether local attempts to own and operate internet and mobile phone infrastructures have empowered “last mile” communities; analyzed and compared how internet and mobile phone use are reshaping sociotechnical relations in these communities; and identified a set of local network initiative “best practices” for broader circulation.

Project abstract:

This project will advance understanding of the importance of local ownership and culture when developing telecommunication networks in rural, low-income, indigenous communities. Using the concept of "network sovereignty" as an analytical framework, the project investigates how varying degrees of network ownership, design involvement, and technical knowledge can impact and empower marginalized communities and result in networks that are more useable and sustainable. By engaging with research in areas of critical infrastructure studies and technological literacy and by leveraging strong local partnerships, the project will build a model for understanding how telecommunication network development can best be organized to support diverse, low-income, rural communities. A particular contribution will be to convey the importance of local cultural practices to network innovation and adoption, and to describe the enabling conditions and long-term effects of such processes.

There is common assumption that low-income, rural communities can benefit economically from their integration within telecommunication networks, but there is a tendency to neglect how important issues of local community deliberation, ownership, design, and culture are to such processes. When telecommunication networks are extended to "last mile" communities, how involved are members of these communities in such processes? How important is the local ownership and control of network facilities? How do local community members understand and make sense of their network integration? What do they hope to gain from such technological developments? And how have communities addressed these issues in different ways? To answer these questions researchers employ a collaborative ethnographic approach and conduct fieldwork and interviews in three diverse communities that have formed local network initiatives. Case studies include Rhizomatica in Oaxaca, Mexico, Oki Communications in the Blackfeet Indian community of Browning, Montana, and the Serengeti Broadband Network in the Mara region of Tanzania. Researchers will partner with community organizations to explore the emergence and relative success of these local network initiatives and, at the end of the project, will provide an analytical framework for evaluating such initiatives in other communities. The project also includes a workshop that enables community partners to discuss and share best local network practices with one another.

Network Sovereignty Blog: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Peer-reviewed publications (based on GMTaC Lab case studies in Blackfeet Nation and Tanzania)

2024 L. Parks, “Domestic solar media in rural Tanzania: toward an energy-media matrix,” forthcoming in Media and Rurality, Darin Barney and Patrick eds, Duke University Press.

2023 L. Parks, A. Wisseh, G. DuCharme, and S. DesRosier, “The Nuances of Network Sovereignty: A Collaborative Study of the Internet and ICTs in the Blackfeet Community in Montana,” New Media & Society, Oct 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231200870.

2021 L. Parks, R. Srinivasan, & D. Cerna. “Digital Empowerment for Whom? An Analysis of ‘Network Sovereignty’ in Low-income, Rural Communities in Mexico and Tanzania.“ Information, Communication & Society, 10.1080/1369118X.2021.1928264.

2020 L. Parks & R. Thompson. “The Slow Shutdown: Information and Internet Regulation in Tanzania from 2010-2018 and Impacts Upon Online Content Creators,” International Journal of Communication, vol. 14, 4288–4308.

Principal Investigators: Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA) and Lisa Parks (MIT/UCSB)

Graduate researchers: Rachel Thompson, Diego Cerna, Alan Zhang (MIT), Assatu Wisseh (UCSB)

Community researchers at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana: Gaylene DuCharme, Sarah DesRosier, Trevor Spotted Eagle, Wayne Smith, and Tara Hite.

Community researchers at Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in Tanzania: Joseph Matiko, Boniphace Elphace, Daniel Bwere, Ethani Caphace, Alex Joseph, Pendo, Kweka, Enock Lalusya, Beatrice Boniface Manyaga, Napendael Msangi, Elisha Elia Nyagwaru, Baraka Sanane, and Gloria Wella.