The heterogeneous politics of infrastructure: Claims of authority in Accra’s drainage

IF 2.4 2区 社会学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Afra Foli
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Abstract

In many parts of the world, the modernist ideal of centralised and networked infrastructure provided by the state remains just that – an ideal. Instead, the reality is a patchwork of infrastructural solutions engineered by both state and private actors. While critical studies have highlighted how states use infrastructure projects to legitimize their authority, how do infrastructure projects shape relations between the state and urban residents when the state is not the sole actor in building and maintaining infrastructure? Drawing on scholarship on the socio-material dynamics of infrastructure, this article examines infrastructure’s politics in Accra’s drainage system. Studying these material interventions shows that drainage is politicised with state actors, aspiring politicians, and urban residents advancing and evaluating performances of authority in relation to this infrastructure. This politicization of drainage infrastructure reproduces patterns of urban socio-economic inequality. As residents experience the consequences of each other’s actions, they recognize the need for a centralised approach to tackle drainage problems and express a desire for the state to assume responsibility. Although ‘heterogeneous infrastructure configurations’ more accurately captures the reality on the ground in rapidly growing cities such as Accra, this analysis of everyday infrastructural politics helps explain why expectations of centrally organized drainage infrastructure persist.
基础设施的异质政治:阿克拉排水系统的权威主张
在世界许多地方,由国家提供集中化和网络化基础设施的现代主义理想仍然只是一种理想。相反,现实是由政府和私营部门共同设计的基础设施解决方案拼凑而成。虽然批判性研究强调了国家如何利用基础设施项目来使其权威合法化,但当国家不是建设和维护基础设施的唯一参与者时,基础设施项目如何塑造国家与城市居民之间的关系?借鉴基础设施社会物质动态方面的学术研究,本文考察了阿克拉排水系统中的基础设施政治。对这些物质干预的研究表明,随着国家行为体、有抱负的政治家和城市居民推进和评估与该基础设施相关的权威表现,排水被政治化了。排水基础设施的这种政治化再现了城市社会经济不平等的模式。当居民们体验到彼此行为的后果时,他们意识到需要一个集中的方法来解决排水问题,并表达了国家承担责任的愿望。尽管“异构基础设施配置”更准确地反映了阿克拉等快速发展城市的实际情况,但这种对日常基础设施政治的分析有助于解释为什么人们仍然期望集中组织排水基础设施。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.50
自引率
7.40%
发文量
78
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