Mardiya Siba Yahaya

I am a digital sociologist, storyteller and learning designer. And this is a space with 'most' of my written work

The long version

I am a digital sociologist, researcher and community movement builder whose work investigates the implications of technology-facilitated surveillance and datafied societies on minoritized communities in the global South. I have a masters in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand. My work examines participatory and open approaches needed to imagine, design justice and inclusive societies. I ground my work in practices of care, community and sustainability, while creating frameworks that wrangles the difficulties of moving theory to practise.

I have extensive experience researching  digital labour, gender and cybersecurity, surveillance, counterpublics and digital identities. I have worked with various power houses to develop courses, lead and support research projects , community building, and design responsible technologies for cities.

As a movement builder, my goal is to design and facilitate sustainable and collaborative communities that work on improving challenges and issues at the intersection of technology, society and people.

Berkman Klein Center •

Digital Identity During Times of Crisis

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society hosted a 10-week Research Sprint from October to December 2022 investigating Digital Identity in Times of Crisis, in collaboration with partners metaLAB at Harvard, the Edgelands Institute, and Access Now. BKC Research Sprints are an educational format developed at the Center that connects early-career scholars and practitioners with leading subject matter experts and stakeholders to troubleshoot specific social, ethical, and policy challenges rela
Pollicy •

Swipe Right for Work: Redefining Labour in Africa’s Digital Futures

Swipe Right for Work: Redefining Labour in Africa’s Digital Futures This report examines the interplay between supposed opportunities within the future of work, and the anxieties and harmful realities associated with these existing and emerging organisations of labour. We usher towards a decolonized and intersectional approach to policy development that carefully involves meaningful civic participation with emphasis on the linkages between fluid social identities, technology and capitalist mode

Resilience through Internet Research: Reflections on Conducting Research with Front-Line Defenders in the Horn of Africa | GenderIT.org

(In)Visible is research that explores the digital security threats against Muslim women and Human rights defenders in the Horn of Africa. The research critically assesses the digital landscape within the Horn of Africa, the policies and laws that govern the space, and the lived experiences of Muslim Women Human Rights Defenders. (In)Visible also grounds the experiences of the women activists in feminist theories on religion, violence and gender.
Magazin Frauensolidarität •

HEARING SILENCES

The violence that queer Muslim women experience online and on social media is inseparable from the patriarchal power dynamics in the offline world. This violence often spills over into the analogue world. There is a danger of violence in being invisible. However, invisibility is not an option, so these queer Muslim women create content. The many ways of expression on the internet do not automatically mean something positive. For example, when a Muslim woman posts a picture online, some people m
GenderIT.org •

What can digital surveillance teach us about online gender-based violence?

The reduction and dehumanisation of women have come to validate practices that threaten our autonomous expression of personhood through the violent control and subjection of women’s bodies. Women find their life stories hijacked by sexist narratives that forcefully promote ideas of who women should be rather than who we are. Similarly, surveillance uses such hegemonic norms and narratives to design multiple separations of people into normal/abnormal, good/evil’ etc. Hence legitimising control an
The Mandela Rhodes Foundation •

Learning Journey Reflection: Seeking of neutral and holistic knowledge — Inside the Programme

In the beginning, I was highly disappointed that my entire learning journey with my Mandela Rhodes Foundation class was going to happen online. Having experienced my last year of undergraduate studies online, I came to understand how online interactions forcefully abstracted our social and replaced it with an isolated individuality. We are unable to fully know and relate to a person who we have only met online. Similarly, it is a highly exhausting process to chase three to four-hour virtual call

Women in Ghana are still accused of being witches - Women’s Media Center

Women in Ghana are still accused of being witches Many students learn about the infamous Salem witch trials, during which a number of women were sentenced to death in 16th-century Massachusetts based on accusations that they were possessed by the devil or other supernatural spirits. Centuries after those trials, women are still accused of witchcraft in Ghana. In fact, in 2012, around 800 women and 500 children in northern Ghana were estimated to be banished to and kept in 10 known “witch camps”

Why feminist children’s books and media matter - Women’s Media Center

Most of the African children’s books I read growing up in Ghana described girls helping their mothers in the kitchen while their brothers went to school and explored the difficulties and opportunities of the world. Women in these stories were depicted as submissive homemakers, men as educated and ambitious, the sole providers of the household. One popular series of folktales in particular — The Makola Romance, a series of low budget-books — depicted Ama, whose sexual liberation and attempts to a
Ananke •

Performative Feminism

Feminism as a movement has undergone a series of evolutions in terms of how activism is carried out. In its early stages, during the 19th and 20th century, it was associated with the temperance and abolitionist movements and gave voice to now-famous activists. It was during these moments where works by activists like Sojourner Truth was recognized. While first-wave feminism focused on achieving legal rights for women, such as voting rights and the right to participate in leadership positions; Se
Ananke •

The Year In Review: A Woman’s Perspective

To read Part II of our review of the year 2016, click here! From Olympics to the US General elections, 2016 was quite an eventful year. As with all eventful years, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. This was no different with women issues. This year, as politics took the forefront of world news with stories ranging from the Syrian civil war to the US general elections, women were not left behind. As of September 2016, 10 women were serving as Head of States in different countries of the

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