We have a new member joining us this semester! Ruben Edel is a Master’s student in African studies at Leiden who is currently doing fieldwork in Benin. Here’s a self introduction from him:
Hi! My name is Ruben Edel, and I am an MA African Studies student currently conducting research on social media, conflict, youth and political change in Benin. My research project is titled “Social media, Security and Ontological insecurity among Youth in Benin” (working title).
My research explores why social media has become such an important dimension through which young people in Benin experience, interpret and engage with narratives on emerging security threats and political instability. Benin has long been regarded as a relatively stable country, yet it is currently undergoing a period of rapid transformation. The spillover of the Sahel conflict into the northern regions, recent political unrest and the upcoming presidential elections are confronting many young people with political and security uncertainty for the first time. These developments coincide with a rapid expansion of social media use, which has become central to everyday communication, political discussion and the circulation of security-related narratives.
I examine these developments through the lens of ontological (in)security, focusing on how young people seek stability, meaning and continuity in such times of rapid change. Social media platforms play a key role in this process. They function as online spaces where narratives about conflict, insecurity and political futures circulate rapidly and are continuously contested and reworked by users. At the same time, the abundance of images, rumours and conflicting interpretations may intensify uncertainty rather than mitigate it. My research explores how young people navigate these tensions, and how social media has become an additional layer through which conflict and insecurity are experienced.
Empirically, the research focuses primarily on young people in Parakou, Northern Benin, and examines online discussions about the Sahel conflict, national politics and elections. I combine a digital ethnographic approach with offline fieldwork, analysing public Facebook groups as well as conducting semi-structured interviews and prolonged participant observation. This allows me to study both the circulation of security narratives online and how they are interpreted, negotiated and reworked in everyday life. By integrating online and offline perspectives, my project aims to contribute to broader debates on African social media, conflict and youth, while offering insight into how ontological insecurity emerges in contexts transitioning from stability to increasing instability.