The Zanzibar Blackout and Alternative Energy

Dean, Erin

doi:10.1111/an.2008.49.8.25.1

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The cable was at least 10 years past its intended life span of 25 years, and replacement parts were late to arrive. For four difficult months, the Zanzibar archipelago did not have distributed electricity, forcing businesses, homes, and hospitals to rely on expensive generators and bottled water (Dean, 2008). Following this crisis, an additional cable was constructed to increase grid capacity, and Zanzibar began to seriously consider how to reduce energy dependency on the mainland sources.…”

Section: Water–energy–land In Zanzibarmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Department of Human Needs”: Renewable energy and the water–energy–land nexus in Zanzibar

Dean¹

2023

Economic Anthropology

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In designating its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations invoked the “water–energy–land (WEL) nexus” to emphasize the interconnections between different policy sectors and accentuate the importance of an integrated approach to human and environmental welfare. Identifying the WEL nexus draws attention to the interplay of technical and moral values, the intersections or overlaps between these values, and the areas where values conflict, tradeoffs happen, and priorities are set or shifted. And within this WEL resource nexus, the development and expansion of renewable energy technologies has the potential to redefine and reorder the balance of values. The archipelago of Zanzibar, a semiautonomous protectorate within the East African nation of Tanzania, is currently making complex energy choices that highlight the significance and fragility of this resource nexus and the role of renewable energy in reshaping it. In this article, I draw on ethnographic research in peri‐urban Zanzibari communities to consider how the WEL nexus in Zanzibar is generated by and generative of complex gradations of value and to explore how the development of renewable energy technologies, particularly solar technology, is both entrenching and transforming the linkages between energy, water, and land in Zanzibar.

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Section: Water–energy–land In Zanzibarmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Department of Human Needs”: Renewable energy and the water–energy–land nexus in Zanzibar

Dean¹

2023

Economic Anthropology

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“…As cell phones and computers died, communication became challenging, and urban residents became increasingly isolated. The vital tourism industry was crippled, and even hospitals were forced to turn off non-essential services (Dean 2008).…”

Section: Precarious Connectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uneasy Entanglements

Dean

2020

The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology

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This article considers the entanglements revealed by the recent and rapid influx of solar technology on the archipelago of Zanzibar. Following a technical failure that left the islands without electricity for three months in 2009–10, the Zanzibari government has pursued several avenues to increase energy autonomy, including solar power. However, the future of energy independence promised by solar development is complicated by a legacy of political conflict and new relationships of dependence and inequality. Drawing on interviews with domestic energy users, government officials, state engineers and NGO activists, and situated within the unique post-revolutionary context of Zanzibar, this article explores how solar innovations and investments contribute to the reimagining of social, economic and political entanglements while simultaneously reproducing persistent discourses of hierarchy, inclusion and exclusion.

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Interrogating Power: Engaged Energy Anthropology

Clarke¹

2015

Reviews in Anthropology

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Human-induced global threats are compelling many anthropologists to rethink roles, methods, and paradigms and engage in public debate and action on energy policies, extraction processes, commodity chains, and consumption. Laura Nader's Energy Reader embodies her decades-long engagement as a catalyst for public debate on US energy issues. Tanja Winther's Impact of Electricity exemplifies ethnography informing development practice. Strauss and colleagues' Cultures of Energy reflects diverse approaches seeking to build cultural understandings to inform energy choices. There remains a need for collaboration with anthropologists embedded in energy-related agencies-positioned where they can leverage anthropological knowledge to push policy envelopes.

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The Zanzibar Blackout and Alternative Energy

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

The “Department of Human Needs”: Renewable energy and the water–energy–land nexus in Zanzibar

The “Department of Human Needs”: Renewable energy and the water–energy–land nexus in Zanzibar

Uneasy Entanglements

Interrogating Power: Engaged Energy Anthropology

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