From December 17, 2025 to January 31, 2026, the South African anthropologist Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah will be in residence at the IAS in Nantes. Dr. Auerbach Jahajeeah is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town and an Iso Lomso Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study.
This short residency at the Institute for Advanced Study in Nantes will allow her to devote herself to writing her manuscript The Internet as the Southern Cross (2027). This book, through a series of essays, offers a critical rereading of the Internet from Africa, exploring its material, human, and symbolic infrastructures. By drawing on the stories of often overlooked actors—engineers, sailors, technicians, recyclers—it highlights forms of ingenuity and leadership that challenge dominant imaginaries centered on hegemonic powers such as the United States and China. From submarine cables to repair ships, from recycling plants to individual biographies, this research project invites us to recognize Africa as a major site of innovation and the invention of sustainable, inclusive, and plural digital futures.
Her stay at the Institute will also provide opportunities to meet with actors connected to her research in Nantes and the region, including a planned visit to Brest to deepen her collaboration with Orange Marine on maritime digital infrastructures.
