School of Social and Political Science

Background

Albert is a joint-postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Edinburgh and University of the Witwatersrand. At Edinburgh he is funded by IASH and Centre of African Studies. 

His work falls within two main research areas. The first is 'digital culture, society and the state'. This work examines how technologies are transforming forms of political activism and campaigning and the ways the state responds. Some of the work produced in this area is a PhD which is being converted into a monograph with the Oxford University Press. His co-edited Special Issue on digital State Surveillance of Political Activists is on contract with the Journal of Southern African Studies (JSAS). He has also published papers on digital citizenship focusing on how citizens, including diasporic communities, mobilise online and challenge their governments. His ongoing project on this examines the culture of fundraising on social media by non-state actors in response to disasters in crises in Malawi.   

The second research area is 'journalism/media culture and practice'. This work builds up on his 10 years of newsroom experience as a journalist. It examines the ways technologies are transforming journalism culture and practice in African newsrooms. He has published on this topic, taught and provided commentary on various topics on the future of journalism. His co-edited volume Technologies and Media Production Cultures: A Global South Perspective with Ufuoma Akpojivi is in print with Palgrave Studies in Journalism and the Global South. Another volume titled BBC's Legacy in African Radios is under review. His ongoing project on this focuses on AI innovations in developing newsrooms in Africa.

Teaching and supervision

University of Edinburgh

• Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities(2023-24) 
• Affiliate, Edinburgh's Centre for Data, Culture & Society (2022-24)
• Commonwealth Scholarship PhD Fellow, Centre of African Studies (2021-23)

Modules: International Development: Research Design and Practice(2023-24) PG

                  Politics and International Relations 1A: Concepts and Debates (2023-24) UG

                  Politics and International Relations 1A: Concepts and Debates (2022-23) UG

                  Interpreting Development: Institutions and Practices (2022-24) PG

                  Key Skills in Development Practice (2022-23) PG

Supervision

Yichi Zhang, MSc in International Development. Digital finance and women empowerment in Indonesia and Kenya. 

University of the Witwatersrand

Modules: Introduction to Comparative Politics, (SM1), (2020-2023)UG

                  Conflict, Stability & State Building in Post-colonial Africa(SM2), (2019-2022)    

• Senior Tutor, Department of Politics (2021-2021)
• Cordinator, Masters Research Seminars (2021-2021) PG
• Tutor, Department of Politics-tutoring (2019-2021)
• MOOC Cordinator, Forced and Precarious Labor in the Global Economy: Slavery by Another Name?(2019-20)

Ongoing supervision

Cecilia Nthala, PhD in Politics. Philanthropic humanitarianism, political expediency and gender justice  in Malawi. Co-supervising with Joel Quirk.

Tinashe Kuyeri, BA Hons in Politics. Political transitions and independence of the Reserve Bank of Malawi. 

Tintswalo Chauke, BA Hons in Politics. Diplomacy, security and intelligence practices during cold war in Africa. 

Nation Publications Limited

• Investigative Journalist (Solutions Journalism), Features Analyst, Reporter (2009-2019) 

Professional Projects 

Since 2018, I have been running projects for professional development targeting activists, journalists and politicians in Africa in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Media Africa programme (South Africa), Multilateral Dialogue Programme(Geneva) and Friedrich Naumann Foundation. 

Over 60 000 Euros has been spent on training media personnel in Africa. Currently, with funding from KAS Geneva, we are training African journalists in reporting the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review which is an important mechanism for monitoring how governments are performing in protecting and promoting human rights in their respective countries. Some of the countries that have benefited from this initiative include Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Togo, Sudan and South Sudan. The project continues under the banner of a community organisation which I founded in 2015, Centre for Education and Development. Visit www.cfedmw.org.

In 2024, he won the IASH Susan Manning Grant at Edinburgh and brought together Wits and Edinburgh universities and 13 authors for a special issue project with JSAS. He also brought together 7 researchers from KU Leuven, Edinburgh, Leiden and Wits for the UNA-Europa African Partnership 36 000 Euros grant application.  

Research projects in progress 

Monograph        

• Digital Political Activism and State Response: A Global South Perspective, Oxford University Press (2023-25)

Edited collections

• Technologies and Media Productions Cultures: A Global South Perspective, (eds) Albert Sharra and Ufuoma Akpojivi. In print with Palgrave Studies in Journalism and the Global South (2024)
• The BBC Legacy in African Radios, Changes and Continuities, (eds) Albert Sharra, Anthony Gunde and Jimmy Kainja. Under review (2024-25)

Special Issue

• State Control in the Digital Age: Investigating Targeted State Surveillance of Political activists in Southern Africa, (eds) Albert Sharra, George Karekwaivanane and Joel Quirk. On contract with Journal of Southern African Studies (2024-25)

Selected publications

Nyangulu. D., Sharra. A., (2023). Agency and Incentives of Diasporic Political Influencers on Facebook Malawi. In: Reidl M., Lukito. J., Woolley. S., (eds). Social Media

Sharra. A., (2023). Digital First As a Coping measure for Malawi's Print Newspapers in New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa. Palgrave Studies  in Journalism and the Global South. 

Sharra. A., (2023). Media, Ethnicity and Electoral Conflicts in Kenya by Jacinta Mwende Maweu. Review. University of Oxford Press

Sharra. A., (2023). From Bush War to Fighting Graft. In: Joseph Odindo (eds). Journey, Journalistic Experiences of African Media Practitioners. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Sharra. A., Matsilele T. (2021). This Is a Laughing Matter: Social Media as a Sphere of Trolling Power in Malawi and Zimbabwe. In: Mpofu S. (eds). The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Sharra. A., (2020). Eyes of the Society: How Malawian Journalists Utilise Question Time During Political Press Briefings, African Journalism Studies, 41:3, 49-64. 

Sharra. A., (2020). Watchdog Role: How Malawian Media Utilise Question Time During Press Briefings. Published by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Media Africa programme. 

Sharra. A., (2019). Vampires in the News: A Critical Analysis of News Framing in Malawian Newspapers, African Journalism Studies, 40:2, 67-82.