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Examining capability enhancement through mobile phone use: T he case of Southern G hana
Author(s) -
Yim Moonjung,
Gomez Ricardo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/isd2.12013
Subject(s) - mobile phone , flexibility (engineering) , context (archaeology) , everyday life , internet privacy , mobile telephony , phone , computer science , business , geography , political science , telecommunications , mobile radio , linguistics , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , archaeology , law
With near half of African population being unique subscribers of mobile phones, we are beginning to understand how people in the continent—and more broadly in the Global South—are interacting with their mobile phone in everyday life, and whether it contributes to development and to capability enhancement, following Amartya Sen's notions. Analyzing interviews on mobile phone uses in Southern Ghana based on Sen's Capability Approach and Dorothea Kleine's Choice Framework, we claim that real‐life uses of mobile phones demonstrate capability enhancement, as it facilitates (1) communication with weak and strong social ties which generates positive outcomes such as exchange of emotional support, information or knowledge, and mobilization of financial resources; (2) information retrieval linked to knowledge expansion and occupational practices; and (3) flexibility in life at work and overcoming physical weakness. The study seeks to contribute towards more profound understanding of the role that mobile phone uses play in development context by looking at everyday uses. In turn, it seeks to address the question of “can mobile phone uses support development in a sustainable and inclusive way that would lead to a quality of life deemed as valuable and meaningful by people?”