Current Institutional Affiliation
Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
Award Information
International Dissertation Research Fellowship 2011
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Anthropology, Yale University
The City Electric: Infrastructures and Ingenuity in Dar es Salaam
After two decades of pro-market reform, electricity in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania has become less reliable and more expensive than ever. This project examines how residents, bureaucrats, and freelance electricians close the service delivery gap by devising informal channels of electricity distribution and their effects on the everyday rhythms of urban life. Through this study, I will analyze how urban Tanzanians construct a cultural ethic of ingenuity in order to access public goods in the absence of reliable institutions.
