Subalternity and the Smartphone- NeMLA 2023
Over 83% of the current global population is estimated to have a smartphone today, and the number is rising rapidly. A lion's share of these phones are used and produced in the Global South. Small, portable, and relatively cheap, the software and hardware of the phones are altering the manner in which individuals in the Global South communicate, and even the languages in which they communicate. An instrument vital to teaching and communication, the production of this tool is nevertheless tied to e-waste generation, child labor in the mining and assembly processes, and numerous other unsustainable and exploitative processes.