[Linganth] Steffen Köhn on the CaMP anthropology blog

[Ilana Gershon]

 Dear Colleagues,
Steffen Köhn discusses his new book, *Island in the Net: Digital Culture in
Post-Castro Cuba *with  Bert Hoffmann today on the CaMP anthropology blog.

<goog_394798122>
www.campanthropology.org
Best,
Ilana

Press blurb: Until just a few years ago, Cuba was one of the
least-connected countries in the world. But as digital technology has
become increasingly available, Cubans have found inventive ways to work
around such remaining barriers as slow speeds, high costs, and inadequate
infrastructure. In *Island in the Net*, Steffen Köhn examines Cuba’s
nascent digital culture and how it has reconfigured the relationship
between the state and its citizens. Köhn shows that through innovations
including “sneakernets” (the physical transfer of information by flash
drives and other devices), digital black markets, and online spaces for
political debates, Cubans have successfully challenged the government’s
monopoly on media and public discourse.

Drawing on multisited ethnographic research, Köhn documents Cuba’s digital
awakening, from the introduction of accessible Wi-Fi in 2015 to the social
media–fueled protests in July 2021. Cubans’ community-driven digital
innovations, he suggests, could be models for potential alternatives to the
current Big Tech–dominated internet.
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