CARGC Press Publishes CARGC Paper 18 by Fernanda R. Rosa
“Tseltal and Zapoteco Shared Networks: The Paths Towards a Pluriversal Internet”
Fragment of the cover image of CARGC Paper 18 by Fernanda R. Rosa
The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication is proud to present CARGC Paper 18, “Tseltal and Zapoteco Shared Networks: The Paths Towards a Pluriversal Internet,” by Fernanda R. Rosa. Available in English and Spanish, this paper explores the indigenous networks, principles, and practices of internet infrastructure building and sharing in Tseltal and Zapoteco sovereign territories in Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico. According to the official data, these two states have the lowest internet connectivity rates in Mexico. In CARGC Paper 18, Rosa reveals it is the local community members, rather than the big internet service providers (ISP), that truly drive the first mile internet connection.
In her introduction, CARGC Senior Research Manager Jing Wang points out that “by using the ethnography of infrastructure, CARGC Paper 18 highlights how indigenous values and infrastructuring processes are intricately interwoven together.” She further notes that Rosa’s publication makes important contributions to the study of media infrastructure and indigenous politics from the perspective of the Global South. “By highlighting the indigenous experiences, this paper addresses the local internet ecosystem with a bottom-up rather than top-down approach [and] invites us all to re-imagine a more equitable, autonomous, and interdependent pluriversal internet,” wrote Dr. Wang.
Fernanda R. Rosa is Assistant Professor in the department of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech. Her work focuses on internet governance and brings together technical discussions of internet infrastructure, design, and social justice from the standpoint of the Global South. Before joining Virginia Tech, Rosa was a Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2021) at CARGC in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. She has a Ph.D. in Communication (American University, 2019, with distinction), a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management (Fundação Getulio Vargas, with honors), and a B.A. in Social Sciences (University of São Paulo). Her dissertation received an Honorable Mention for the Association of Internet Researchers’ Best Dissertation Award in 2020. She is the co-author of Mobile Learning in Brazil (2015, Zinnerama), and has recently published STS accounts on digital inequalities and platform studies in Internet Policy Review, Policy & Internet, Preludios, Social Media + Society.
