Dangerous Technologies

Dangerous Technologies focuses on the prevalent theft of consumer electronics in post-Apartheid South Africa. Through a material culture perspective, it explores why these objects have commonly been targeted by bandits and subsequently circulated through the criminal underground.

Brandaan Huigen is a Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at University College London, UK.

Introduction: Dangerous technologies 1. Crime waves and electronics 2. Glossy electronics as wealth 3. "Robber bait": Living with targeted electronics 4. Tech bandits and burgling work 5. "Kroon": Electronic currency of the underworld 6. Radical redistribution 7. Smuggling gadgets to African villages 8. "Mahala": Consuming stolen electronics 9. Policing electronics theft Conclusion: Desirable technologies.