Gabriel Faimau

University of Botswana | UB · Department of Sociology

In the past two decades or so, Botswana has witnessed a spectacular growth of prophetic Christianity and experienced a media revolution through the emerging use of new media. While studies have generally focused on either the growth of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity or the new media revolution, little attention has been paid to the characteri...

The existing literature on religion and new media often focuses on the interdisciplinary nature and perspectives in this research field. While this emphasis is relevant, the analysis of practical strategies developed by researchers prior to and during the research fieldwork is commonly neglected. As such, practical questions, methodological issues...

Over the past 2 decades or so, the triple digital revolution—social network, Internet, and mobile phone—has increased the use and popularity of the “selfie.” Within social sciences, the phenomenon of the selfie has been examined as a new culture that shapes human self‐presentation, social relationships, and social consumptions. This article provide...

Public surveillance technology through the installation of Closed-Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) has been widely acknowledged as a tool for monitoring population movements and preventing crime. Based on this technological value, the installation of CCTV cameras has become a growing trend in many cities globally. The year 2018 will be remembered...

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) has become one of the most challenging socio-cultural issues in contemporary Botswana. This paper seeks to examine how female victims of IPH are represented in the Botswana print media. Drawing on data collected from 63 newspaper articles published in four Botswana newspapers between January 2010 and December 2013, t...

This study explores and documents the processes of loss and grief among families who have lost relatives due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Gaborone city, Botswana. In-person and online in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 15 families and a key informant, selected using the non-probability technique of purpo-sive sampling. Participant ob...

Urban spaces have been centres of social struggles and transformation the world over. With reference to selected urban informal settlements in Zimbabwe, the present article draws inspiration from Henry Lefebvre's (1991) "autogestion" thesis and examines the extent to which urban spaces have been appropriated and materialised in order to cope with t...

In our contemporary digital society, the smartphone is at the center of a powerful technological revolution affecting multiple domains. In the context of higher learning, the use of smartphones among students has been an area of interest. Previous studies on smartphone use and academic performance have generally focused on measuring the impact that...

As the digital revolution continues to become an integral part of the communication landscape in many parts of Africa, political parties and politicians turn to social media platforms as new tools for political mobilization and campaigns. Social Media and Elections in Africa, edited by Martin N Ndlela and Winston Mano, presents compelling case stud...

The idea that Pentecostalism can adapt theologies and religious practices to local conditions is at the heart of Pentecostal Megachurches in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Class, Consumption and the Nation, edited by Terence Chong. Chapters in this book generally focus on examining and interrogating the extent to which Pentecostalism intertwines with...

As more people invest in the cyber world, they become prone to cybercrimes. Previous studies revealed that with technological and cyber advancement, our cyberspace has been infested with malicious acts by cyber criminals while awareness and knowledge of cybercrime and related security among cyberspace users have been relatively lacking. The purpose...

Exclusion of African history in the curricula of institutions of higher learning, particularly in the context of Africa, has been a common concern. Central to this concern are questions relating to how African history can add value to the academic formation as well as critical thinking of students. Drawing from qualitative data collected using Focu...

Ethnography is well known as a methodological approach when studying social practices, interactions and lived experiences. Scholars generally agree that “ethnography is about telling social stories.” As a qualitative research approach, ethnography relies on observation and research participation. The emergence of new media technologies, particularl...

New Media, including social media, play a central role in producing and reproducing socio-cultural and religious discourses and practices. The presence of new media has not only brought changes in the way religious beliefs are practiced but also the ways religious meanings are expressed. In the past 2 decades or so, scholars have studied the relati...

New media, including digital and social media, play a central role in producing and reproducing socio-cultural and religious practices. Its presence has not only resulted in changes to the ways in which religious beliefs are practiced, but has also altered the way religious meanings are expressed. How has new media technology informed and influence...

The growing interest in Internet-based Social Network Sites (SNS) and the increased form of social interactions taking place via globalised digital networks has not spared educational institutions. The adoption of SNS by university students has attracted attention of both scholars and practitioners, triggering interest in studies that explore their...

Contemporary understanding of prophetic activism originates from the biblical description a prophet and prophecy. Through this understanding, it is commonly accepted that prophetic activism is motivated by concerns for equality, human dignity, justice and social change. Focusing on the religious practices among prophetic ministries in Botswana as a...

A major element in the religious practice of believers in prophetic Christianity is the sharing of religious testimonies. Focusing on prophetic ministries in Botswana, this paper examines the nature and function of religious testimonies and the dynamics of their digitisation and online circulation. It explores the ways in which religious testimonie...

Giving a testimony forms a central part of the religious practices among Pentecostal churches including prophetic ministries. Testimony links the understanding of one’s religious experience and the configuration of the divine intervention. Utilizing data collected through ethnographic observation among prophetic ministries in Botswana and digital e...

There have been a significant number of published studies in recent years on the British media representation of Muslims. These studies have tended to focus only on the British mainstream media, and to my knowledge, there is no significant research on the discursive construction of British Muslims in alternative media outlets. This paper attempts t...

Technologization of discourse is generally conceptualized as a process of influencing people’s way of thinking through the use of certain linguistic strategies. In this process, power is exercised through the use of linguistic strategies that shape the construction of identity as well as socio-religious vision. This study analyzes the ways in which...

Concerns from employers that tertiary institutions fail to provide graduates with necessary skills have recently become a dominant issue particularly in developing economies. Although literature on the subject of employability and market competitiveness of graduates is abundant and continues to grow, it overly focuses on patterns and outcomes in de...

This study examines the knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes towards risky sexual behaviour and perceived behavioural control among students in Botswana. Data were collected from 445 students randomly selected from the University of Botswana and Boitekanelo College. Hundred and seventy three males and 272 females participated in the study. The study es...

‘The Conflictual Model of Analysis in Studies on the Media Representation of Islam and Muslims: A Critical Review’ was published in Sociology Compass 9/5 (2015) pp. 321–335, DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12264. This Teaching and Learning Guide is designed to accompany this article. In brief, the article examined the extent to which various studies on the media...

This article examines ‘the West versus Islam’ paradigm in the studies on the representation of Islam and Muslims in the Western media. It argues that while offering insights which uncover the hidden oppressive power that drives the representation of cultural differences, the use of the conflictual model of analysis in exploring media representation...

The 2008 Tertiary Education Policy in Botswana points out that " Botswana's tertiary education system has a key responsibility for meeting the needs of an increasingly market-driven, diversified, globalised knowledge-based economy and this is where the pressures of growth and change are already being experienced ". At the heart of this powerful sta...

‘Christian persecution’ has been widely referred to as a popular phrase to describe the suffering of Christians on the basis of their faith. Within Christianity itself, persecution has become a religious vocabulary that is commonly related to the construction and formation of Christian identity. In relation to modern and contemporary news reporting...

There have been many studies of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the media in recent years, but interestingly, there is no significant attention to media with a religious background. Focusing on The Tablet, a leading Catholic weekly in Britain, this study aims to fill the absence of sociological study on the representations of Islam and M...

This article is a preliminary attempt to examine the construction of identity among the Dawanese, in Timor,Indonesia. The identity construction here is conceptualised as an on-going process of meaning-making throughwhich individuals and groups define who they are and how they live their lives. This meaning-making processcharacterises also the life-...

Studies on the British media representation of Islam and Muslims have been quite significant in the past few years. Interestingly, there is no significant attention to the British media with a religious background. Focusing on The Tablet, a leading Catholic weekly in Britain, this article aims to fill the absence of sociological study on the repres...

The growth of Internet use in the era of computer technology has influenced all aspects of human interaction and society, including religion. Is the Internet a blessing or a curse for religion? Sociological studies have identified a replacement of institutional religion by a new social form of religion following the decline of people’s participatio...