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Under the wire: splintered time and ongoing temporariness in Accra’s electropolis

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  • Dawson, Katherine

Abstract

This paper discusses the occupation of an electricity transmission line right-of-way (ROW) at a busy interchange to the western edge of Accra, Ghana. In planning documents, ROWs are depicted as open spaces and obtaining permits to develop the land is prohibited. However, across the city, people continue to live and work under the wire, describing their occupancy as one of ongoing temporariness. Drawing from fourteen months of ethnographic research in Accra, I unpack the production of this urban temporality and argue that this ongoing temporariness is not linear, but should rather be understood as a condition punctured by events which both threaten and re-establish temporary occupation. I contend that it is only by attending closely to a splintered temporality, that we may grapple with the ways in which ongoing temporariness takes hold in cities marked by uneven access to land, income and capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Dawson, Katherine, 2021. "Under the wire: splintered time and ongoing temporariness in Accra’s electropolis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108572, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:108572
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/108572/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Goldman, 2011. "Speculative Urbanism and the Making of the Next World City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 555-581, May.
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    4. Oren Yiftachel, 2020. "From displacement to displaceability," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1-2), pages 151-165, March.
    5. Natalia Besedovsky & Fritz-Julius Grafe & Hanna Hilbrandt & Hannes Langguth, 2019. "Time as infrastructure," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4-5), pages 580-588, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    temporariness; infrastructure; urban temporality; Accra; T&F prepayment account from UKRI block grant;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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