The mismatch of narratives and local ecologies in the everyday governance of water access and mosquito control in an urbanizing community

• Published in: Health & place 2023-03, Vol.80, p.102989-102989, Article 102989
• Main Authors: Evans, M.V., Bhatnagar, S., Drake, J.M., Murdock, C.C., Rice, J.L., Mukherjee, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Cities; Ecology; Everyday governance; Family Characteristics; Humans; Mosquito Control; Mosquito ecology; Vector control; Water access; Water Supply
• ISSN: 1353-8292; 1873-2054
• DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102989

Mosquito-borne disease presents a significant threat to urban populations, but risk can be uneven across a city due to underlying environmental patterns. Urban residents rely on social and economic processes to control the environment and mediate disease risk, a phenomenon known as everyday governance. We studied how households employed everyday governance of urban infrastructure relevant to mosquito-borne disease in Bengaluru, India to examine if and how inequalities in everyday governance manifest in differences in mosquito control. We found that governance mechanisms differed for water access and mosquitoes. Economic and social capital served different roles for each, influenced by global narratives of water and vector control. •Risk of dengue infection in cities is uneven - Both social and economic capital are successfully used to access water.•Mosquito control is more difficult to achieve via everyday governance.•Global narratives of individual responsibility for health are applied locally.