Tanja Winther - The Impact of Electricity: Development, Desires and Dilemmas

D EVELOPMENT , D ESIRES AND D ILEMMAS

Tanja Winther

NEW YORK OXFORD

First published in 2008 by

www.berghahnbooks.com

2008, 2011 Tanja Winther

First paperback edition published in 2011
First ebook edition published in 2011

All rights reserved.
Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher.

Winther, Tanja.

/ Tanja Winther.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84545-495-1 (hbk)ISBN 978-1-84545-292-6 (pbk)ISBN 978-0-85745-063-0 (ebk)

1. Rural electrificationSocial aspectsTanzania. 2. Rural electrificationEconomic aspectsTanzania. 3. Sustainable developmentTanzania. 4. Power resourcesSocial aspectsTanzania. 5. Power resourcesEconomic aspectsTanzania. 6. Power resourcesEnvironmental aspectsTanzania. 7. Social structureTanzania. I. Title.

HD9688.T34W56 2008

333.793'209678dc22

2008014707

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-84545-495-1 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-84545-292-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-85745-063-0 (ebook)

This book is based upon fieldwork in Zanzibar, first and foremost in the village of Uroa. I am thoroughly indebted to the men and women who accepted my presence there and who helped me in my efforts to answer the question of what impact the arrival of electricity has had on peoples lives in rural Zanzibar. My closest friends, helpers and acquaintances also appear in crucial parts of the book and for this reason I have changed their names in the text.

The staff at the Zanzibar Electricity Corporation (ZECO) provided information and assistance. In particular, I wish to thank Omar Khamis Baomar and the current project manager of the electrification project, Juma Othman Hija, with whom I have also worked as a consultant, along with his team. At the Zanzibar National Archives I received valuable support from H.H. Omar. Mwandawa Chaude Ramadhan and Bishara Mohamed Rashid assisted in conducting census interviews and focus groups. Bente and Suleman Said also provided regular support.

Both Haakon With Andersen (Centre for Technology and Sociology) and Jarle Sletbak (Norwegian Institute of Technology) of the University of Trondheim and anthropologist Kjersti Larsen, of the University of Oslo, provided advice and inspiration at the projects early stage. Asbjrn Tenfjord and A.S. Linjebygg, the subcontractor during the early phases of the electrification project, helped me in 1991.

I also wish to express my gratitude to Desmond McNeill, Harold Wilhite and Dan Banik at the University of Oslos Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) who have read and commented on various parts of the books earlier drafts. I also thank my other colleagues at the Centre for providing stimulating and encouraging discussions over the years.

I am particularly indebted to Aud Talle at the Department of Social Anthropology in Oslo who provided guidance during the most significant period of the research process. Marianne Lien, of the same department, provided critical comments on the material touching on economic life and consumption. Acknowledgements also go to many other fellow anthropologists in the department. An earlier version of the manuscript was read by Pat Caplan, Jo Helle-Valle and Unni Wikan whose comments and questions have been vital in the revision process.

I wish to thank Marion Berghahn for her trust in the idea that electricity matters, and also her colleagues at Berghahn Books for splendid cooperation during the editing phase. Joanna Deacon proofed the English language in an early phase and Fadhili Makame proofed the expressions in Swahili.

Despite the generous feedback I have received from many people in the process, all possible mistakes rest of course solely with me. The main body of research conducted for the purposes of this book has been financed by the Research Council of Norway.

Finally, family counts. My sister Silja, my brother Ivar and my wonderful parents continue to provide support and inspiration. So does Astri, my 98-year-old grandmother. Not least, my husband Henrik Bentzen has supported me immensely. During fieldwork in 20001 he also helped me to organise, type and produce statistical data. As for our daughter Anna, who was two years old at the time, she created situations where the limits of Uroan social aesthetics were tested by simply opening doors and following her instincts. To our surprise, when she kissed a dear male neighbour on the cheek he became quite embarrassed. Boundaries may tacitly exist but sometimes their relevance and significance are only revealed by moments such as this. In a wider perspective this also implies that one cannot anticipate how a given change, such as the arrival of electricity, will affect social life. The empirically based, ethnographic account to be presented here, then, will explore such changes as they are actually perceived and experienced. This is the point at which the story of electrification in rural Zanzibar begins.