A New Colonialism: The Shadow Scholars and The Exploitation of Intellect
Doc Weekly was in attendance at the 2024 edition of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) to catch screenings of some of the year’s best documentaries, but also to see World Premieres in the competition sections of the most exciting films to expect in 2025.
‘They want our ideas, they just don’t want us’
What is the point of an education? Not an easy question to answer. At its most simple, education provides knowledge that in turn provides opportunity to advance one's career, social status and lifestyle. What if these were not the potential outcomes? What if education provided nothing beyond the diploma in the graduation hall?
These are the sorts of questions Shadow Scholars directed by Eloise King dares to ask. We follow sociologist Patricia Kingori, the youngest black and female professor at the University of Oxford, as she takes viewers through the bought essay industry, which involves an estimated 40,000 Kenyans writing academic papers for students in the global north.
The scale of this crisis is horrifying, with 37 million students engaged worldwide and an industry valued at an estimated $15 billion. On a societal level, it is shocking that students studying degrees in medicine, law, engineering, are able to pay for the essays and as such gain vocational degrees they technically do not qualify for.
The more devastating focus of this film, however, is the dire situation for young people in Kenya hoping to earn a living and enjoy their working lives. Roughly one million Kenyans graduate from local institutions (either school or university) each year, with this rate predicted to continue at least until 2029. They are graduating to a floundering job market with very little opportunity for paid employment.
The film shows us the human scale of this crisis, meeting several Kenyan shadow scholars protected by ‘AI generated digital disguises’ Although the result is fuzzy, it is much more effective at keeping the stream of the film together than other anonymity techniques, such as full face blur.
King thoughtfully leads us through the maze of opinion on the existence of the shadow scholar industry, balancing contradicting opinions from Global North University Representatives and shadow scholars themselves. For the latter, this is their only source of income, but their existence is invalidating the legitimacy of these institutions. This is emphasised with contrasting shots of shadow scholars working all night in their homes followed by pans of Global North university campuses and libraries.
Crucially, the film tails Mercy, a shadow scholar and single mother to Angel (aged 8) who is still at school. We learn of Angel’s aspirations and see her working hard for an education, in the knowledge that once she completes school, perhaps even university, there will not be a job waiting for her.
In this way, what King shows beyond doubt is the injustice of this practice. Students across the Global North can buy an essay, submit it as their own, be awarded a grade for the quality of that essay, graduate and then stand a good chance of having a successful career. It is another form of colonialism, with the Global North effectively mining the minds of the Global South for intellect, profiting from them by obtaining degrees and careers while the best Kenyans can hope for is the cash. The colonialism and racism extends to all facets of this industry, with one shadow scholar admitting they changed their profile picture to that of a white person to be “trusted more”, and utilising VPNs to log in from Global North countries so they can access university websites.
At the heart of this film is the meaning of power, with the shadow scholars’ story dovetailing Kingori's own experience of plagiarism even at the most distinguished level. Although a devastating story, and certainly one worth telling, it does slightly distract from the main beat of the film. The initial punchy pacing slows down with the introduction of this storyline.
The Shadow Scholars begs the question: what is the point of working hard for an education if it won’t grant you a professional career and if the work can be bought anyway? In doing so, it unravels all our preconceptions. But when the security and money earned by working as a shadow scholar is portrayed as a glimmer of hope in Kenya’s otherwise barren job market, doesn’t it seem equally damning to remove the job from them? The film shows us that although there are no right answers, these questions need to be asked.
The Shadow Scholars had its International Premiere selected in the Frontlight competition of IDFA 2024.
