The eyes of the world

The digital devices that define this era exist not only because of Silicon Valley innovations but also because of a burgeoning trade in mined substances like tantalum, tin and tungsten. In the tentatively postwar Eastern DR Congo, where many lives have been reoriented around artisanal mining, these minerals are socially dense, fueling movement and innovative collaborations that encompass diverse actors, geographies, temporalities and dimensions. Focusing on the miners and traders of some of 'digital minerals', this book examines how Eastern Congolese understand the work in which they are engaged.