Hybrid networks, everyday life and social control: Electricity access in urban Kenya

This article examines electricity access in Kisumu and Kitale, Kenya, through the mediation of land tenure relations. Despite a reported rapid expansion of formal network connectivity, various everyday practices have emerged, including piecemeal electricity purchase and communal meter sharing, which...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2019-05, Vol.56 (6), p.1250-1266
Main Author: Smith, Shaun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Access control
Electricity
Everyday life
Land tenure
Lessors
Life control
Social control
Social networks
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Summary:This article examines electricity access in Kisumu and Kitale, Kenya, through the mediation of land tenure relations. Despite a reported rapid expansion of formal network connectivity, various everyday practices have emerged, including piecemeal electricity purchase and communal meter sharing, which mean electricity access is controlled and mediated at various social scales. It is argued that such practices represent hybridised forms of electricity access and that landlord–tenant relations alter the socio-technical electricity network and how access is lived and experienced. 本文通过土地权属关系，考察了肯尼亚基苏木和基塔莱的电力供应。尽管据报道正式网络连接迅速扩张，但包括零星的电力购买和公用电表共享在内的各种日常实践已经出现，这意味着电力获取权在各种社会尺度上受到控制和调解。本文认为，这样的做法代表了混合形式的电力供应，房主与租户之间的关系改变了社会技术电力网络，以及电力的获取方式和体验。
ISSN:0042-0980
1360-063X
DOI:10.1177/0042098018760148