The Impact Of Electricity Development, Desires And Dilemmas [Paperback]

How does everyday life change when electricity becomes available to a group of people for the first time? Why do some groups tend to embrace this icon of development while other groups actively fight against it? This book examines the effects of electricitys arrival in an African, rural community. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Zanzibar at different points in time, the author provides a compelling account of the social implications in question. The rhythm of life changes and life is speeding up. Sexuality and marriage patterns are affected. And a range of social relations, e.g. between generations and genders, as well as relations between human beings and spirits, become modified. Despite men and womens general appreciation of the new services electricity provides, new dilemmas emerge. By using electricity as a guide through the social landscape, the particularities of social and cultural life in this region emerge. Simultaneously, the book invites readers to understand the ways that electricity affects and becomes implicated in our everyday life.

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction
Towards an anthropology of energy
Addressing development
Research questions
The choice of an untypical village
Electricity matters
What sort of good is electricity?
Fieldwork and ethical considerations
Learning the art of conversation
An outline of the book

Chapter 2: Powers of the past
The people and the place
The colonial period
The post-revolution era

Chapter 3: The Rural Electrification Project (RUREL)
Objectives: improve health facilities, create modern villagers and ensure Zanzibars future income
The impact of international environmental discourses
Political difficulties: the project interrupted
Public services dramatically improved
Household connections, tourism and productivity