Orie Chuku, Nenna;
(2025)
An Information Space of Coloniality: Exploring Information Journeys on Colonial Travel Pathways.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Through this Critical Information Studies doctoral thesis, I propose the use of an information space of coloniality as a framework to (1) informationally examine the implications of a phenomenon touched by a colonial encounter, and (2) reveal how objective and dominant information is formed. I suggest that four information formats result, informationally, from a colonial encounter: metropole–local information, localised–global information, global–imperial information (colonised information), and colonised–local information. To illustrate the applicability of an information space of coloniality and the information formats, I use the concept of migration information and colonial travel pathway to place information sources in dialogue. I situate this in a UK migration context as discourse on contemporary and recent migration into the UK is frequently void of the implication of (British) colonialism. I review movement on a colonial travel pathway from documented and participatory perspectives. This is achieved through a multi-case research design based on two information journey theories: translocal information journey and user information journey (Allard & Caidi, 2018; Caidi, 2019; Adams & Blandford, 2005). The translocal information journey case study is based on twelve oral history interviews with Sierra Leoneans about their intentions to return to Sierra Leone after living in England. The user information journey case study is based on documentary materials from the Census of England and Wales (1951 to 2021). From this case study research design, I conclude that imaginaries play a role in maintaining aspects of coloniality, whether colonial continuities found in the Sierra Leone return case study or colonial unknowing and post-colonial self-image in the Census of England and Wales (1951 to 2021) case study (Vimalassery et al., 2016; Wekker, 2016).
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | An Information Space of Coloniality: Exploring Information Journeys on Colonial Travel Pathways |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Information Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203104 |
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