Democracy's Infrastructure

Techno-Politics and Protest after Apartheid

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Democracy's Infrastructure by Antina von Schnitzler, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Antina von Schnitzler ISBN: 9781400882991
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: October 25, 2016
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Antina von Schnitzler
ISBN: 9781400882991
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: October 25, 2016
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

In the past decade, South Africa's "miracle transition" has been interrupted by waves of protests in relation to basic services such as water and electricity. Less visibly, the post-apartheid period has witnessed widespread illicit acts involving infrastructure, including the nonpayment of service charges, the bypassing of metering devices, and illegal connections to services. Democracy’s Infrastructure shows how such administrative links to the state became a central political terrain during the antiapartheid struggle and how this terrain persists in the post-apartheid present. Focusing on conflicts surrounding prepaid water meters, Antina von Schnitzler examines the techno-political forms through which democracy takes shape.

Von Schnitzler explores a controversial project to install prepaid water meters in Soweto—one of many efforts to curb the nonpayment of service charges that began during the antiapartheid struggle—and she traces how infrastructure, payment, and technical procedures become sites where citizenship is mediated and contested. She follows engineers, utility officials, and local bureaucrats as they consider ways to prompt Sowetans to pay for water, and she shows how local residents and activists wrestle with the constraints imposed by meters. This investigation of democracy from the perspective of infrastructure reframes the conventional story of South Africa’s transition, foregrounding the less visible remainders of apartheid and challenging readers to think in more material terms about citizenship and activism in the postcolonial world.

Democracy’s Infrastructure examines how seemingly mundane technological domains become charged territory for struggles over South Africa’s political transformation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the past decade, South Africa's "miracle transition" has been interrupted by waves of protests in relation to basic services such as water and electricity. Less visibly, the post-apartheid period has witnessed widespread illicit acts involving infrastructure, including the nonpayment of service charges, the bypassing of metering devices, and illegal connections to services. Democracy’s Infrastructure shows how such administrative links to the state became a central political terrain during the antiapartheid struggle and how this terrain persists in the post-apartheid present. Focusing on conflicts surrounding prepaid water meters, Antina von Schnitzler examines the techno-political forms through which democracy takes shape.

Von Schnitzler explores a controversial project to install prepaid water meters in Soweto—one of many efforts to curb the nonpayment of service charges that began during the antiapartheid struggle—and she traces how infrastructure, payment, and technical procedures become sites where citizenship is mediated and contested. She follows engineers, utility officials, and local bureaucrats as they consider ways to prompt Sowetans to pay for water, and she shows how local residents and activists wrestle with the constraints imposed by meters. This investigation of democracy from the perspective of infrastructure reframes the conventional story of South Africa’s transition, foregrounding the less visible remainders of apartheid and challenging readers to think in more material terms about citizenship and activism in the postcolonial world.

Democracy’s Infrastructure examines how seemingly mundane technological domains become charged territory for struggles over South Africa’s political transformation.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Classical Electromagnetism in a Nutshell by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Beyond Our Means by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Depression in Japan by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Investigating the President by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book American Misfits and the Making of Middle-Class Respectability by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book The Wisdom of Frugality by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Japan Transformed by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Fourier Analysis by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book The Homeric Hymn to Demeter by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book From Neighborhoods to Nations by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book The Origin Then and Now by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Ideas of Liberty in Early Modern Europe by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book The 1970s by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book Chemical Biomarkers in Aquatic Ecosystems by Antina von Schnitzler
Cover of the book On Mercy by Antina von Schnitzler
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy