The Africa Research Forum for Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Helsinki (AfriStadi) is a space for Africa research in social sciences and humanities and it holds great local and global relevance.
AfriStadi holds Twin Talks that bring together researchers from different disciplines in African Studies to connect their research to an overarching theme.
In October, University Researcher Matti Pohjonen from HSSH’s Methodological Unit participated in the Twin Talks together with Professor Nick Mdika Tembo from the Department of Literary Studies at the University of Malawi.
Matti Pohjonen's talk covered the complexities of researching social media politics in Africa, emphasizing the importance of understanding "context" to avoid oversimplified analyses of digital politics worldwide.
Pohjonen highlighted two main challenges: First, while computational methods can reveal large-scale patterns, they may miss subtle political and cultural nuances. Second, existing theories of digital media, often developed in Western contexts, don't fully address African digital environments. Research in African social media is either sparse or confined to area studies, limiting its impact on broader theoretical development. Drawing on his experience in Ethiopia, Pohjonen illustrated how integrating local political histories and cultural dynamics into research offers deeper insights into digital activism and conflicts, advocating for a more nuanced, context-sensitive approach.
“I am always happy to participate in AfriStadi’s academically engaging events. AfriStadi was initially funded by the HSSH Catalyst Grant, and it is nice to see how it has since emerged into such an established intellectual forum within University of Helsinki on research done on Africa,” Pohjonen said.