tags:: #decolonization #British-colonialism #Telegraph projects:[[]]
Thorat, D. (2019). Colonial Topographies of Internet Infrastructure: The Sedimented and Linked Networks of the Telegraph and Submarine Fiber Optic Internet. South Asian Review, 40(3), 252–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/02759527.2019.1599563
In their article, Thorat (2019) explores the realtionship between the digital divide in the Global South and the location telegraph cables in the 19th century. They argue that India is still greatly impacted by these colonial infrastructures, leaving them and many other nations at a significant disadvantage compared to their imperial counterparts. The author then explains a brief history of the telegraph, including its importance to colonial nations such as England in maintaining control over their ‘property’. Thorat (2019) notes that since society builds on old technology, the modern Internet lines are built off said colonial structures, thus leaving the Global South in a state of continued systematic oppression. While not an idea commonly recognized, Thorat (2019) ensures that it is clear to readers how even today nations face detrimental remnants of colonialism. New cable projects through the Global South aid the process of decolonization, however, populations still face extreme lack of Internet that leaves them disconnected from society. When examining the history of the telegraph cable, it is essential to ask the purpose behind their location, and how that could potentially affect life in the present date.