Innovation amidst digitalization, climate change, and environmental degradation. Anthropological research in and with communities in Africa.

In the next 5 years, I ambition to develop fundamental and action-oriented (“decolonial”) research on technology & innovation from a predominantly anthropological perspective. Anthropologists are best positioned to explore what kind of technological innovations people desire, and which technological novelties are easier integrated in people’s everyday lifeworlds in order to obtain “the good life”. In the formulation of my research agenda, I prioritize two types of “good life”: (a) life in an inclusive society brought about amidst digitalization processes, such as smart city development; and (b) a comfortable and responsible life in an era of climate change and environmental degradation. I thus hope to contribute to inventing/adapting tools that can counter technological exclusion, climate change and environmental degradation, can render life more “livable” in warmerenvironments, and can produce healthier futures in Africa. Social and environmental justice are key.