Digital Postcolonialism in Africa and Class Debates: Protoproletariat or Pooriat?

Year 2025, Volume: 20 Issue: 1, 108 - 124

Özgür Yılmaz

https://doi.org/10.17550/akademikincelemeler.1583212

Abstract

This study explores the concept of digital postcolonialism, analyzing how digital economies perpetuate colonial dynamics and deepen global inequalities. Digital colonialism, much like historical colonialism, exerts control over developing regions through monopolistic ownership of digital infrastructure, data, and platforms by tech giants primarily located in the global North. By examining the labour conditions of digital workers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, this study highlights the emergence of a “digital blue-collar” workforce facing precarious, low-wage conditions dictated by platform algorithms. Through the introduction of the concept “pooriat,” the study underscores the severe poverty and dependency that characterize this workforce, reflecting a new form of economic subjugation in the digital age. These conditions reinforce a digital hierarchy, where peripheral regions provide labour and data without fair compensation or control, paralleling colonial resource extraction. The study also discusses the potential of alternative frameworks, such as platform socialism, to challenge these power imbalances by democratizing control over digital infrastructures. This research contributes to the discourse on global inequality, digital dependency, and socio-economic restructuring, emphasizing the need for a more equitable digital economy.

Keywords

Digital Postcolonialism, Digital Colonialism, Global Inequality, Precarious Labor, Data Exploitation

Afrika'da Dijital Postkolonyalizm ve Sınıf Tartışmaları: Protoproletarya mı, Pooriat mı?

Abstract

Özet: Bu çalışma, dijital postkolonyalizm kavramını inceleyerek dijital ekonomilerin sömürgeci dinamikleri nasıl sürdürdüğünü ve küresel eşitsizlikleri nasıl derinleştirdiğini analiz ediyor. Dijital sömürgecilik, tıpkı tarihi sömürgecilik gibi, öncelikle küresel Kuzey'de bulunan teknoloji devlerinin dijital altyapı, veri ve platformlar üzerindeki tekelci mülkiyeti yoluyla gelişmekte olan bölgeler üzerinde kontrol uyguluyor. Özellikle Sahra Altı Afrika'daki dijital işçilerin çalışma koşullarını inceleyen bu çalışma, platform algoritmaları tarafından dikte edilen güvencesiz, düşük ücretli koşullarla karşı karşıya kalan bir "dijital mavi yakalı" iş gücünün ortaya çıkışını vurguluyor. Çalışma, "pooriat" kavramının tanıtılmasıyla, bu iş gücünü karakterize eden şiddetli yoksulluk ve bağımlılığın altını çiziyor ve dijital çağda yeni bir ekonomik boyunduruk biçimini yansıtıyor. Bu koşullar, çevre bölgelerin adil tazminat veya kontrol olmaksızın emek ve veri sağladığı, sömürgeci kaynak çıkarımına paralel bir dijital hiyerarşiyi güçlendiriyor. Çalışma ayrıca, dijital altyapılar üzerindeki kontrolü demokratikleştirerek bu güç dengesizliklerine meydan okumak için platform sosyalizmi gibi alternatif çerçevelerin potansiyelini tartışıyor. Sonuç olarak bu araştırma, küresel eşitsizlik, dijital bağımlılık ve sosyo-ekonomik yeniden yapılanma konusundaki söyleme katkıda bulunmakta ve daha eşitlikçi bir dijital ekonomiye olan ihtiyacı vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

Dijital Postkolonyalizm, Dijital Sömürgecilik, Küresel Eşitsizlik, Güvencesiz Emek, Veri Sömürüsü

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