Peter Chonka completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre of African Studies in 2017. His doctoral research focused on transnational Somali-language media networks and their impact on the cultural politics of state reconstruction in the Horn of Africa. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Peter has subsequently published his research across various fields, primarily exploring how digital technologies and the new media environment affect political reconstruction, civil society activism, mobility and conflict in so-called ‘fragile’ states.

Peter was previously part of the ESRC/DFID-funded ‘Security on the Move’ research project, using innovative visual methods to develop sustained research collaborations with displaced people and explore their experiences of mobility, security and labour in Somali cities. Peter previously taught in the fields of African Politics and Development Studies at SOAS and Birkbeck (University of London). Prior to his doctoral research he worked as a Somali-interpreter for the International Committee of the Red Cross, primarily in places of detention across Somalia.

Research Interests & PhD Supervision

• Digital media, language and political communication
• Conflict and state-building
• African media/digital cultures
• Migration and mobility
• Development/humanitarian communications and digital innovation

For more details, please see his full research profile.

Teaching

Peter is the co-convener of the Department’s MA Digital Culture and Society course. He also convenes MA Mobility, Culture and Digital Media module that explores intersections between migration, diaspora communities, and communication technologies. He also designed, and now convenes, a BA module on Development and Humanitarianism in a Digital Age.

Expertise and Public Engagement

Peter has testified in various immigration cases related to Somalia, and advises UK refugee advocacy groups on issues related to his research. He is a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute and has taught on and co-directed the organisation’s annual Horn of Africa course. This is held in the region and designed for civil society, humanitarian, diplomatic, and security sector professionals. He regularly presents his research to public and policy-making audiences in the Horn of Africa and the UK. Peter is an active fellow of Somali Public Agenda, a local non-profit institute that works to advance governance and public service delivery in Somalia. He has also been a Co-Investigator on the UKRI-funded network project Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa. Through this he has been involved in bringing together East African researchers, civil society activists, and tech-professionals to discuss emerging issues relating to digital transformations in East African contexts and produce local language resources for further work on digital rights.

For more details see his personal website.