Anna Colom

Citizenship (2017 cohort)

I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics and International Studies at The Open University. My research applies a feminist intersectional approach to exploring how mobile technologies, in particular access and use of WhatsApp, mediates the citizenship capabilities of young women in Western Kenya. This research seeks to contribute to conceptualising citizenship in a postcolonial context and to a critical understanding of the transformational role of mobile technologies for young people experiencing multiple and overlapping oppression.

Prior to the PhD at The Open University, I worked for BBC Media Action as a Senior Research Manager, designing and conducting research to inform and evaluate the role of media and communication in social change across countries in Africa and Asia. I have also worked as a researcher for the London School of Economics and Political Science and consult for a number of international organisations. I completed an MSc in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). My dissertation explored how community video enhances the political capabilities of oppressed communities through a Freirean dialogical process. I also hold a degree in Journalism from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). I am a trained Participatory Video facilitator and a documentary filmmaker.