News

On August 21, 2025, Dr. Victor Chidubem Iwuoha (University of Nigeria, Nsukka) and Prof. Martin Doevenspeck from our UBT Peace and Conflict Research Network published their new article Biometric Coloniality: Digital Consensus and the Biometric State in Africa.

They introduce the concept of the biometric coloniality of power in the Global South. Using Nigeria and other African countries as case studies, they show how alliances between powerful global institutions, big tech companies, and emerging biometric states reproduce colonial relations of domination. These biometric states are characterized by dysfunctionality and authoritarianism, which lead to the exclusion and disempowerment of citizens. The authors argue that the cycle of data extraction, commodification, and dispossession can only be disrupted through the conscious awakening of digital subjects.

Read the full article here.