Instagram – the widely popular photo sharing app – impacts how people imagine places, making it a useful platform for cultural geographers to examine the power of representation in our contemporary era. Utilizing visual methodologies, we analyze popular images on Instagram that deal with the topic of everyday life in Africa to understand not only what gets represented but what resonates with viewers/consumers. Our analysis focuses on one of the most popular Africa-themed Instagram accounts – @everydayafrica – to interrogate the power of social media platforms on geographic imaginations. To get at user perceptions, we collected information on which images were most liked and commented on and analyzed whether these images reinforce or work against extant stereotypes of Africa to interrogate how and whether decolonial resistance in representation is possible on a digital platform dependent on sharing and liking content. We used postcolonial scholarship to identify controlling images of the continent and examined whether users were more responsive to common tropes. Overall, we found that the most-liked images reinforce existing stereotypes and in so doing replicate the colonial gaze. We contend that the way Africa is visually consumed has real, material consequences.

The Sustainable Development Goals seek to achieve universal, adequate, and equitable access to drinking water and sanitation by the year 2030. Yet, significant and persistent disparities in water and sanitation access exist, with rural and low-income households in Sub-Saharan Africa exhibiting some of the lowest levels. This paper uses household surveys from rural villages in Zambia’s Western Province to identify, highlight, and examine spatial barriers to improved water and sanitation. Most households included in the study area drink unimproved water, including surface water, and either use unimproved sanitation facilities or practice open defecation. Access to improved water sources and improved sanitation in the study area lags behind the rest of rural Zambia. Beyond the distance to urban areas that makes piped water and sanitation expensive, the location of these villages in the Barotse Floodplain necessitates seasonal migration, which creates barriers to universal access to improved water and sanitation.

In 1967, the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) began resettling Angolan refugees into independent Zambia’s first official refugee camp, Mayukwayukwa in Kaoma District, Western Province, Zambia. After nearly 40 years living as refugees, Angolans began a process of repatriation – or return – to Angola. By 2010, the prospects of full repatriation from Mayukwayukwa to Angola were limited, forcing the community, the governments, and the international refugee regime to address long-standing appeals for alternative settlement options. This article begins by providing a historical understanding of refugee-hosting in Western Province, Zambia and proceeds to trace the ever-evolving contours of protracted refugee-hosting at Mayukwayukwa Refugee Settlement. I utilize in-depth interviews to assess the Zambian and Angolan perceptions of refugee-hosting, settlement, repatriation, citizenship and identity. Ultimately, the protracted displacement of Angolans in Zambia challenges the discourse that privileges repatriation as the ideal durable solution. Additionally, the case of Mayukwayukwa Refugee Settlement not only illustrates the utility of geographic approaches to refugee research, but also contributes to broader discussions regarding geographies of mobility, transnational identities, development, and displacement.