SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa

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To begin even nearer the beginning than this book does – and in case I am not the last person in the world to know – let me point out that SMS stands for (thank you WikiAnswers) Short Message Service, which is "a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices."

It adds, helpfully: "SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet, with 2.4 billion active users." Mobile telephony relies on GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, access to which is controlled by individual countries whose approach – monopolistic like Kenya's Safaricom or open and competitive like that of Uganda – has a direct impact on airtime costs, which in turn affects how many people have access to the system.

Among other key considerations are the age (and cost) of mobile handsets in Africa – mainly pre-2003 and, therefore, neither web nor data enabled – and the fees charged by handset manufacturers to operators trying to develop new applications.

Most of this is covered in the first essay, on the economics of the industry. It explains how China and Libya are using monopolistic deals to capture national mobile telephony markets. The advantage to a government of monopolies, of course, is control – not only business control, but also control over content. Bad news for those who see access to a mobile as a powerful weapon in the defence of democracy.

But the essay's author, Nathan Eagle, is particularly interested in the research potential of the information automatically collected by operators about the usage and location of every mobile handset. A force for good or evil? It could be a vital tool to understanding better the sociology of rural Africa, for example. But it might be just what a corrupt government is seeking to monitor citizens' behaviour.

The mobile's capacity to stimulate, record and publish images of protest, for example, has already been established in places as far apart as Iran and Burma.

As the Guardian's Tania Branigan reported recently, ChinaMobile, the state owned operator, shuts down texting at the first sign of trouble – a policy pursued by the Ethiopian government, which has only just legalised SMS.
Optimistic outlook

But the optimists – and the activists like Christian Kreutz, who wrote the second essay in this collection – believe mobiles can extend participation, monitoring and transparency, decentralise networks and provide opportunities for local innovation.

Mobile has greater penetration than television (although not radio, with which it can work as a kind of poor man's internet, with radio broadcasts soliciting citizen journalism to report on local events and conditions). The essential element is not high technology, but universality – and people on the ground who can frame questions, find or write software and then recruit users. SMS activists are the sons and daughters of the first generation of internet users – passionate about open source technology and shared experience.

Theory is one thing: but where these essays really come alive is in the descriptions of projects that have already worked.

Take Amanda Atwood's account of Kubatana, a social and political action initiative in Zimbabwe that began on the internet, but to extend its reach adapted Ken Bank's FrontlineSMS to send out regular news updates to people who had either no news source at all, or none that was trustworthy. This was then developed to find out, during the delicate negotiations between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change, what people wanted. It was soon discovered that the system was valued as much for its capacity to operate as a genuine information exchange, putting people from across the country in touch with one another. It triumphed at moments of crisis – during the 2008 elections, for example, where users were able to warn others of local developments. "Kubatana! Results have not been officially announced yet. The MDC has claimed victory based on preliminary counts ...". or "Kubatana! Some poll stations asking foreign borns for renunciation certificates. This is NOT a requirement ...".

SMS doesn't always work (sometimes texts are just too slow). But this is a handbook for the small NGO or social change activist who is daunted by technology. Help is at hand, and SMS Uprising will help you find it.

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of the continent's mobile communications industry. Another collection, Mobile phones: The new talking drums of everyday Africa,
shifts the focus from mobile activism to broader ethnographic accounts of how phone users in Africa adapt technologies to their everyday lives and
ways of speaking, showing how new communicative designs are woven from local thread.

The activists' accounts in SMS Uprising point to the signicance of existing local infrastructure and communicative practices in mobile campaigns,
while the ethnographic studies reveal the complexities of accessing the evolving meanings of these local practices. Mobile activists
develop "Mobiles in-a-box" guides and resource kits that are intended for use across contexts, while ethnography unpacks the speciªc uses of
phones in particular contexts, revealing the lived meanings of mobile communication in Africa, the ºuidity of phones as locally interpreted artifacts,
and the strength and flexibility of cultural forms on the African "mobile margins."

SMS Uprising

SMS Uprising targets a broad audience, and it includes an accessible and often inspiring collection of practitioner accounts, as well as guidelines for
practice and reºection. The collection is edited by activist Sokari Ekine (from the award-winning blog Black Looks1) and includes chapters provided
by leading ªgures who have shaped the tools and campaigns used in the ªrst decade since mobile communication became more broadly
accessible across most of the continent. Contributors include Juliana Rotich from Ushahidi, Berna Ngolobe of WOUGNET (Women of Uganda
Network, one of the oldest African NGOs working with women and ICTs), Ken Banks from Frontline SMS, and "maptivist" Christian Kreutz.
The SMS Uprising of the title refers to a potential, rather than an actual mobilization, with most case studies reporting small-scale projects by NGOs across Sub-Saharan Africa using SMS for activism and advocacy. On the whole, these projects lack the drama of the popular uprisings and revolutions which swept North Africa and the Middle East in early 2011, popularly labeled “Facebook revolutions” because of the prominent role played by social networking sites in both mobilization and government responses. They do show the sustained work and ingenuity required to embed
mobile technology in day-to-day activism in contexts where Facebook or Twitter are inaccessible to most people, and where organizations often do not have access to mass media. The account of the development of crowdsourced crisis-response tool Ushahidi is particularly valuable, given the prominence of this tool in subsequent crisis responses around the globe. Nathan Eagle gives an overview of the economic and regulatory context where some mobile operators on the continent reap huge profits, regulation seldom serves the public good and governments such as China and Libya use telecommunications to expand their influence. Several case studies show how the cost of mobile communication often effectively prohibits mass participation, even in SMS campaigns. According to Christian Kreutz, the potential contributions of mobile technologies (such as expanding participation in citizen media) are limited (1) by the costs of airtime, which strangles participation in SMS campaigns, and (2) by the cost of handsets, which means that old or low-cost phones are the norm, and thus limits access to other features, such as data and applications. Ken Banks argues for
simple, low-cost implementations to support grassroots NGOs and the case studies in the volume also provide ample evidence of the importance of existing modes of activism and accessible, affordable technologies in generating a critical mass of participation.
The collection includes accounts of specific campaigns from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, DRC, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. Chapters detail the
development of a “Mobiles in-a-box” resource kit for human rights activists (Chapter 4), as well as a discussion of an alternative news source, Kubatana,
which uses SMS, email, and audio information distributed via cellphone to counter government censorship in Zimbabwe (Chapter 7). Fifteen countries
ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa as a result of Fahamu’s pioneering SMS campaigns, and this case study (Chapter 5) shows how small-scale projects can achieve their goals by leveraging media attention. Joshua Goldstein and Juliana Rotich discuss mass participation in the viral spreading of SMS rumors and hate-speech in the Kenyan election’s aftermath. Their account contrasts viral texts which promoted ethnic violence with the collaborative work of Kenyan bloggers whose work supported civil society. The blogging community rallied to ªll the gaps created by mass media blackouts and harnessed SMS for civic purposes in the development of the public platform Ushahidi. Ushahidi (which means “testimony” in Swahili) documented the geographical distribution of incidents of violence, allowing those with access to the Web to see a composite map of
the unfolding crisis. This tool for aggregating citizen reports created a viable crowdsourcing platform which has subsequently been useful to activists and
relief workers in crisis situations around the world. The opposition implicit between “predatory” uses of mobile communication at the grassroots and
the civic action of Kenyan bloggers in Goldstein and Rotich’s work demands a more careful theorization of rumor and networked technologies in African
politics. At the least, it suggests a need for studies which explore continuities between mobile communication and other appropriations of media in African contexts, both in amplifying rumors and word of mouth, and in bypassing government censorship (see Nyamnjoh, 2005). Enthusiasts for “Facebook revolutions” seldom ask who is excluded from the networked publics of Web 2.0. Similarly, Goldstein and Rotich draw connections
between Kenyan blogs and the democratic promise of Benkler’s “networked public sphere,” but they leave the speciªcities of access in this context
untheorized. Can the Internet really be counted as a “commons” on a continent where only 10% of the population access online media? Similarly, the constraints and high costs of SMS make the need for accessible online “public spaces” and cheap mobile Internet all the more urgent.
For this reason, a key strength of the collection is the honest account by Anil Naidoo of a failed South African project. The UmNyango SMS campaign provided information about domestic violence and land exclusions and aimed to encourage women to report human rights abuses. While mobile communication allowed near universal accessibility, local dynamics, such as a reluctance to confide in outsiders and a distrust of SMS, still kept people from acting on information. The SMS campaigns also proved prohibitively expensive for both NGOs and participants,
and they generally failed to increase women’s participation. Naidoo speculates that other modes of
activism could have been more effective: “[H]ad we used the funds for supporting women in other ways
to organise and seek redress, the outcome would have been more positive than spending the effort
and resources in setting up, administering and sending SMS messages” (p. 84).

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By Kathambi Kinoti
AWID: You are a social justice activist and one of the sites of your activism is the blogosphere. What gaps does SMS activism fill that blogging or social networking do not?
SOKARI EKINE: I don’t see SMS activism as filling a gap left open by blogging or social networking; all these kinds of activism are used in different but complimentary ways. Because mobile phones are more accessible than the internet, millions of Africans can now generate and share information in an unprecedented way. Some of the information generated can be transferred to the internet or blogs, but the primary benefit of mobile telephony is that it enables people to communicate for whatever reason.
AWID: The title of the book is "SMS Uprising," and it contains examples of citizens presenting formidable challenges to repression by their states, of people reporting on corruption and human rights violations, and so on. Do women access and use technologies in similar ways to men? And would you also describe women’s uptake of mobile phone technology as an uprising?
SE: Obviously there are similarities in the ways that men and women use mobile phones, as they are simply instruments for communicating and organizing. However there are barriers to women's uptake of the technology: women – especially those who live in rural areas - are poorer and therefore many of them can’t buy phones or airtime. Illiteracy is another barrier that affects women more than men.
Women often have restricted access to mobile technology including where, as is often the case, there is a "household" phone which is owned and controlled by the male head of household. Nonetheless, a number of projects have shown that rural women farmers use their phones extensively and wisely for work-related communication.
As to whether women’s uptake of mobile technology can be regarded as an uprising: no, I wouldn’t call it that. In fact I am becoming increasingly wary of the use of the word in discussing mobile phone activism in Africa. Certainly, more and more women are using mobiles, but more and more people in general are using them for an increasing number of activities. All across Africa, ordinary communication remains the primary use of mobiles.
AWID: In the introduction to the book, you write: "There is no doubt that mobile and internet technology is democratizing social change in communities across Africa. We must, however, also recognize that technology has the capacity to concentrate power and therefore could be used to reinforce existing power relations." In a general sense, how are women circumventing patriarchal power structures and in what ways are existing power relations being reinforced?
SE: How we use and apply technology is dependent on what actions we take to promote social change. Technology itself cannot force social change because it is people who are change agents.
As I have mentioned before, the access - or lack of it - to a phone is for many women dependent on their economic status and on existing power relations. Purchasing a mobile phone or airtime is difficult for many women, and asking permission to use a shared phone is not an empowering experience. Men, on the whole, have higher levels not only of literacy but also of fluency in the dominant languages of mobile phone communication. We must also be aware that the technology itself has inbuilt control mechanisms, particularly as more and more governments legislate for compulsory registration of SIM card ownership. The wide availability of phone data, whether for population monitoring or advertising is worrying. In Nigeria, for instance, all the mobile phone networks constantly bombard customers with advertisements for products and services, and this can lead to greater consumerism.
On the other hand, having ownership or shared ownership between women means that they are able to mobilize and share information in new ways. Access to information can lead to social change. A woman farmer who uses a mobile phone to check the prices of produce in local markets and is then able to sell her produce without having to use a middle -man has increased autonomy and hence a better economic status. To a large degree, women’s access to mobile telephony is about their independence; the extent to which they can negotiate their daily lives without having to depend on others.
Mobile phones have also been used to mobilize women in rural areas -often at short notice - and to convey information about domestic violence, land rights and other women’s rights issues.
AWID: In the book you emphasize the need for technology to be rooted in local knowledge. How has women’s knowledge been explored in the exploitation of mobile phone technology, and do you think that there are gaps in the ways in which it is being explored?
SE: There are a number of projects in Eastern and Southern Africa which have directly involved women. The book has one example of a domestic violence reporting project in South Africa that did not work because women were not consulted. Communities need to be involved directly and both men and women must be included, since women don’t work in isolation in most African communities. WOUGNET of Uganda has been very successful in participatory projects for rural and urban women.
There are huge gaps in the uptake of mobile phones by women – more so in some countries than others. There are also significant differences in numbers between those using phones as instruments for social change, and those using them as tools for basic communication.
AWID: In what circumstances should we celebrate mobile phone technology and where should we tread with caution?
SE: As a tool for communication, mobile phone technology has been very liberating for poor people and rural communities, giving them access to information and communication on a level they have never before experienced. It has led to radical changes in service provision, particularly in health and education.
There has been a great deal of hype from technophiles and the development industry about the range of mobile technology-driven projects. Mobile phones are presented as the singular driving force behind social and political change, which is not entirely the case. As I said before, it is not technology that brings change, but people.
Projects need to be more critically evaluated so that we can know how well are they really working. I often come across people who have tried applying mobile telephony to one use or another , only to get frustrated by the cost, poor infrastructure or lack of technological knowledge that they encounter. I think that many of the people who develop technologies work in social and political isolation and don’t see the broader picture.
AWID: Ken Banks in the chapter that discusses whether mobile activism is empowering 'the many or the few’ poses the question: “If mobiles are truly as revolutionary and empowering as they appear to be… then do we have a moral duty, in the ICT for Development (ICT-D) community … to see that they fulfil that potential?” Isn’t mobile technology primarily driven by phone manufacturers and mobile service providers? Are social justice activists simply at the mercy of market forces?
SE: The answer to all these questions is “Yes, to varying degrees.” The relative costs of having a mobile phone in the global South are high compared to the North, and I often feel that Africa is subsidizing European tariffs.
Mobile phone manufacturers are constantly expanding their market; particularly the urban youth market. However cheaper phones with fewer features work equally well to communicate, and if one is not driven by consumerism and aesthetics then these basic phones are perfectly functional. We are becoming more and more dependent on mobile phones not just for communication but for entertainment and documentation. I think that this dependency is great for manufacturers and service providers, but not as good for consumers.
I must agree that mobile phones are empowering the few, and I am concerned that a continental digital divide is developing between those who have access to the technology and funding for projects and those who do not. There are parts of Africa that are "development funding-rich” and other less advantaged areas where money is scarce. Those driving this divide definitely have a moral responsibility.
AWID: In the book, Redante Asuncion-Reed analyzes Fahamu’s sms campaign to urge African states to ratify the Maputo Protocol. In embarking on the campaign, Fahamu departed from the project design and evaluation models that are prevalent in the development community. Its Executive Director Firoze Manji is quoted as saying: “We didn’t have a clue what would happen, or what the reception would be… It was just such a crazy idea and, even if it didn’t work, out of failures you learn.” What scope does mobile phone technology provide for experimentation, and to what extent are social justice activists limited by existing theories of change and established ways of doing things in the development sector?
SE: I think mobiles provide great scope for experimentation. The question –as Fahamu’s experience shows – is how we measure success. We need to be able to take risks without fear of failure. If something doesn’t work, the failure is not that it didn’t work; it is that we failed to learn from our mistakes.
I don’t think that social justice activists who use new technologies are limited by existing theories. On the contrary, they are often willing to try new ideas and innovations. In fact the belief that there is no such thing as failure is one reason why mobiles as a tool for activism and advocacy have been so successful.
AWID: What are your predictions or hopes in the next few years for mobile phone activism – and indeed for other forms of social justice activism that use new technologies?
SE: The first change I would like to see is the bridging of the continental digital divide. Secondly, I would like to see much more critical evaluation of existing projects with a view to improving them and using them as models elsewhere. In brief: less hype and more reality.
One of the barriers to the uptake of mobile phone technology, particularly for front line human rights defenders is their lack of time to learn the technology and apply it. I would like to see more effort to support human rights defenders in their grassroots work.
Overall, great strides have been made in using mobile telephony for social justice activism, but there is still a great deal of work to be done before one can say that there really is an uprising. I actually regret using the word, because after my research for the book I realized that it was not the right one to use.
Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa is available for purchase from Fahamu.reason why mobiles as a tool for activism and advocacy have been so successful.
AWID: What are your predictions or hopes in the next few years for mobile phone activism – and indeed for other forms of social justice activism that use new technologies?
SE: The first change I would like to see is the bridging of the continental digital divide. Secondly, I would like to see much more critical evaluation of existing projects with a view to improving them and using them as models elsewhere. In brief: less hype and more reality.
One of the barriers to the uptake of mobile phone technology, particularly for front line human rights defenders is their lack of time to learn the technology and apply it. I would like to see more effort to support human rights defenders in their grassroots work.
Overall, great strides have been made in using mobile telephony for social justice activism, but there is still a great deal of work to be done before one can say that there really is an uprising. I actually regret using the word, because after my research for the book I realized that it was not the right one to use.
Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.

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When the book was first brought to my attention it was with concern over the price. The price is fair. Indeed, the content in this book is so valuable that I would pay $45 without a second thought. I am especially pleased that the African publishers have been so very professional and assured "Look Inside the Book"–please do click on the book cover above to read the table of contents and other materials.

This is the first collection I have seen on this topic, and although I have been following cell phone and SMS activism every since I and 23 others created the Earth Intelligence Network and put forth the need for a campaign to give the five billion poor free cell phones and educate them "one cell call at a time," other than UNICEF and Rapid SMS I was not really conscious of bottom-up initiatives and especially so those in Africa where the greatest benefits are to be found.

I strongly recommend this book as a gift for ANYONE. This is potentially a game-changing book, and since I know the depth of ignorance among government policy makers, corporate chief executives, and larger non-governmental and internaitonal organization officials, I can say with assurance that 99% of them simply do not have a clue, and this one little precious book that gives me goose-bumps as I type this, could change the world by providing "higher education" to leaders who might then do more to further the brilliant first steps documented in this book.
At Phi Beta Iota I will add all the links to Internet resources cited in this book that Amazon refuses to tolerate, one reason why we created the laternative site for all of my reviews (all connected back to their Amazon page, but much more fun and easier to exploit at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog).

The authors are a deeply impressive "baker's dozen" (13), most of them of, by, and for Africa.

Some high points that stay with me and are best appreciated with a full reading of this extraordinary work, a gift to humanity:

01) Focus is on bottom-up success stories that are easily replicated.

02) Cell phone distribution can be over-stated, some upper class will have 2-4 phones at same time that s ome lower-class may share a phone among several people.

03) “Technology in itself does not lead to social change”

04) HOT SIDE: Erik Hersman's White African and the Africa Network, coined the phrase “It is works in Africa it will work anywhere.”

05) Downside of cell phones is the strategic mineral coltran, heavy out of Democratic Republic of the Congo.

06) Google Earth mash-ups have been hugely empowering for both SMS and voice alerts on violence against women and many other forms of insecurity.

07) HUGH: cell phone technology is enabling the sale of water pumped rather than the pump itself, farmers can pay by their use of the pump which “calls home” when used, this is utterly brilliant.

08) Cell phone banking, e.g. Safaricom's M-PESA, is changing local economies for the better.

09) “The mobile phone will be a strategic tool for communication, collaboration, coordination, and collective action.”

10) Four trends are mobile participation through citizen media, local innovation around mobile tools (this includes precision watering of plants, see Phi Beta Iota posting on plants that call when they are thirsty), mobile tools for monitoring and transparency; and finally, decentralized networking (which in my mind helps eliminate wasteful and often corrupt intermediaries).

11) Africa is GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) ready but most lower-cost phones are not GPRS capable.

12) Activists are finding mobiles more than sufficient for both building open information repositories, and for doing analysis with advanced features (which I presume includes back office web sites structured to receive and display SMS text and numerical inputs with added visualization).

13) I share the African reservations about very large NGOs (such as the Red Cross) that keep 50-75% of all contributions for “overhead” and are often arrogant as well as ignorant–the two seem to go together. Here is a wonderful quote that explains why small NGOs with cell phones can be so effective: “What they lack in tools, resources and funds they more than make up with a deep understanding of the local landscape–not just its geography, but also the languagfe, culture and daily challenges of the people.”

14) Frontline SMS is free software that turns a laptop or desktop, a mobile phone and a cable into a two way group messaging center.

15) Throughout this book what comes across is low-cost easy to replicate innovations not only “sticks” but it explodes in outward circles of influence and adoption by others.

16) I learn for the first time about e-rider, a “roving NGO ICT consultant” who provides specialist support across a number of like-minded NGOs and also supports information, knowledge-sharing and collaboration among them (link at Phi Beta Iota).

17) SMS campaigns are not just about the limited number of messages sent and received, but also about attendant publicity, with high-profile volunteers adding political and economic weight beyond the mere numbers.

18) It is clear from more than one contribution (half the book is short case studies, all extremely well done), that over half of the population in Africa, if not more, does not participate in political and economic engagement for lack of relevant information, for lack of local counselors or opportunities to do face to face deliberation, and for lack of money for telephonic communications. As Earth Intelligence Network concluded, following in the steps of Arthur Clarke, communications should be FREE–it is the transactions and the creation of wealth through connectivity that can be monetized.

19) SMS costs are much too high, and the bottom line is that the networks are cheating everybody (this is my conclusion, not that of the book, see the “true cost of SMS” posting at Phi Beta Iota.

20) Another obtacle to public journalism is the fee structure put in place by unethical governments that seek to control journalism and reporting, and have the power to imprison or kill unlicensed “reporters.” The USA is no exception, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere idiot police chiefs are seeking to criminalize Twitter and the use of cell camaras to record police brutality.

21) One author provides a high-level easily memorable description of the cell phone advantage with the fouor D's: dynamic, diverse, discreet (camera and recording features), and direct.

22) A downside of “mass SMS” is the ease with which it can broadcast hateful messages that lead to genocide, the author discussing this labels that section “viral hatred.” The same author calls for moderates to be ready to couinter-attack with messages of moderation, and not yield or leave the “mass SMS” capability only to extremists.

I put this book down with deep, deep respect. This is a positive book, a book that adds to my personal belief that indigenous peoples will ultimately triumph as they receive and use tools such as mobile telephones.

I can be very tough on books, but this is one book that is clearly beyond six stars–a fair price, proper use of Amazon information supplements, SUPERB quality control in all respects, superb representative collection of grass-roots authorities who are authentic in every way, and replete with real-world examples that are changing the world now and that change is just beginning.

The publisher also impresses me with four books advertised at the back of the book, one of which, Development and Globalisation: Daring to Think Differently I particularly recommend. This book for me also represents, in all my years of reading, the first sign that indigenous knowledge is now beginning to flow, aided by low-cost printing and the Amazon channel. Well done all the way around, those who can afford to should buy ten copies of this book and give them away.

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SMS uprising – Mobile activism in Africa was exactly the book I needed to read. Opinion pieces from leaders in the use of SMS for development, from Ken Banks of Frontline SMS to Becky Faith of TacticalTech, combine examples which excite and enthuse with the harsh realities of the digital divide and the political and community contexts that have kept SMS from becoming a significant tool for mobilizing masses in taking action for change.

Yet technology is changing by the day and there is a lot of optimism about the lowering costs and accessibility of mobile phones. This will enable access to mobile internet and open up the benefits of the world wide web to more people in developing countries.

There are also examples of amazing innovation that people in Africa enjoy which we could only envy. Paying your electricity bill by SMS? Sending money to someone via text? Kenyans have been doing this for some time through M-PESA.

And then think about Kubatana in Zimbabwe. Operating in the atmosphere of total information black-out and censorship, this courageous organisation provided essential information and a space where people could voice their opinions and vent their frustration about the chaos caused by the last elections.

Following the 2007 elections in Kenya, Ushahidi – a mash-up of Google maps and SMS used as a reporting tool, enabled ordinary citizens to put violence hotspots on a map for everyone to see. This genius technology has seen wider use recently like in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.

In summary, a fantastic book which provides a window into current and future (mobile) technology in Africa and, by extension, a lot of the developing world. As it shows a plethora of SMS uses in development projects, this book is a must-read and a guaranteed inspiration for NGO professionals.

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SMS Uprising provides the reader with a decent understanding of the state of mobile SMS usage in Africa today. The essays are written by writers, developers, activists, and researchers who are committed to Africa, and cover a multitude of ways SMS can be applied for advocacy work – everything from alerts about political unrest to sharing health information. The book is divided into two parts: context and case studies.

Sokari Ekine, the editor, notes:

SMS Uprising is significant for many reasons not least because it has been edited by an African woman activist. Often initiatives in Africa are studied by people who are quite distant from the continent or are academics who are remote from the grassroots of the subject under discussion. The book is also unique in giving an insight into how activists and social change advocates are addressing Africa’s many challenges from within, and how they are using mobile telephone technology to facilitate these changes...The intention is that the information contained within the book will lead to greater reflection about the real potential and limitations of mobile technology.

This two-pronged approach (providing insight into the current state of African ICTs while also providing a roadmap for others interested in incorporating mobile technology into their activism work) has varied levels of success. SMS Uprising does a good job of balancing optimism about the future against the realities of working in Africa, where there are significant technological and social limitations to implementing mobiles in advocacy.

Anil Naidoo, focusing on The Umnyango Project, came to the realization that, for its particular needs, SMS "might at best be used as a complement to social organizing rather than as the central part." It’s refreshing to read this kind of honesty, as our industry is sometimes so enamored of technology that it’s seen as the solution to all problems.

That’s not to say that there are not case studies that had positive outcomes; many of the other case studies did have results. Amanda Atwood’s essay Kubatana in Zimbabwe: Mobile Phones for Advocacy, shows that mobile phones can provide a way for sharing much-needed information to a populace starved for news. The straightforward approach to the potential (and limitations) of mobile technology in Africa is useful to readers who want an honest take on the current technological landscape in Africa.

Another way in which the book succeeds is in its look at how projects adapted and evolved. For example, Tanya Notley and Becky Faith’s Mobiles In-a-Box: Developing a Toolkit with Grassroots Human Rights Advocates recounts the development of the Tactical Tech's mobiles-in-a-box toolkit. The essay delves into the work and testing needed to develop a mobile support system for activist organizations, which could be useful to social change workers wondering how to go about developing tools and incorporating them into their work.

But while the context and case studies give readers good examples of the landscape and examples, it is doubtful if any of the case studies could be exactly replicated; the book is perhaps better used as a background primer for developing and incorporating mobile technology strategically, rather than a blueprint.

The first section deals with the context of mobiles in Africa, covering economics and power, trends and software development, and scale and adoption of new technology. This is most useful for readers wanting to find general information on the African mobile landscape. The case studies, which focus on particular uses of SMS in the field, are more useful for readers looking for examples of how to incorporate SMS and mobile technology into their advocacy work. However, some of the case studies are rather dated - detrimental for how-to guidance in a field and landscape that is rapidly evolving.

SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa offers a glimpse at how change is coming to Africa from within Africa. The collection of authors are clearly dedicated to using technology to improving life in African countries. The book gives readers insight into some of the nuts and bolts of creating social change programs; and for readers looking for an honest breakdown of the challenges and work that goes into incorporating mobile technology into activist work, SMS Uprising is a valuable read.

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Another essay by Ken Banks asks whether “social mobile” is “empowering the many or the few”. Ken is the founder of FrontlineSMS, “a free software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone or modem into a central communications hub”. As the second part, consisting of seven case studies, includes a chapter co-authored by Juliana Rotich, the book brings together developers of two applications that stand for the success of mobile activism in Africa, FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi.

I especially liked the essay by Rotich and Joshua Goldstein on “Digitally networked technology in Kenya's 2007–08 post-election crisis”. It is a short version of a case study written for the Berkman Center’s Internet and Democracy Project. The chapter looks at three facets of social media in a conflict situation: “SMS campaigns to promote violence, blogs to challenge mainstream media narratives, and online campaigns to promote awareness of human rights violations.” Here’s a short excerpt dealing with the latter part:

Ushahidi is a mashup: a blending of two internet applications to relay information in a visually compelling way. The design teams combined Google maps, which allows users to zoom in and view satellite images of Kenya, with a tool for users, via mobile phone or internet browser, to report incidents of violence on the map, add photos, video and written content that document where and when violence occurs. [...]

The Ushahidi platform is revolutionary for human rights campaigns in the way that Wikipedia is revolutionary for encyclopaedias: they are tools that allow cooperation on a massive scale. Yochai Benkler describes this phenomenon as 'commons-based peer production’, and argues that it has a central place in rethinking economic and social cooperation in a digital age.

The essay more than once refers to Benkler’s outstanding work, The Wealth of Networks. I am just now reading this book myself and I find it to be very useful to fully understand the whole magnitude of the social media revolution we are experiencing. As Rotich and Goldstein write, “Yochai Benkler provide[s] useful language to help us begin to understand the place of these tools in society.”

SMS Uprising combines theoretical groundwork and practical case studies useful to everyone interested in the use of mobile technology for activism and development. While some chapters are a bit longer than necessary, in combination the book provides a good overview of the issue.