Lively Infrastructure

This paper examines the social life and sociality of urban infrastructure. Drawing on a case study of land occupations and informal settlements in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where the staples of life such as water, electricity, shelter and sanitation are co-constructed by the poor, the pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory, culture & society culture & society, 2014-12, Vol.31 (7-8), p.137-161
Main Author: Amin, Ash
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brazil
Cities
Electricity
Human settlements
Infrastructure
Land
Low income groups
Occupations
Poor
Public infrastructure
Right Wing Politics
Rights
Sanitation
Shelters
Social life & customs
Solidarity
Studies
Urban Areas
Water Supply
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Summary:This paper examines the social life and sociality of urban infrastructure. Drawing on a case study of land occupations and informal settlements in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where the staples of life such as water, electricity, shelter and sanitation are co-constructed by the poor, the paper argues that infrastructures – visible and invisible – are deeply implicated in not only the making and unmaking of individual lives, but also in the experience of community, solidarity and struggle for recognition. Infrastructure is proposed as a gathering force and political intermediary of considerable significance in shaping the rights of the poor to the city and their capacity to claim those rights.
ISSN:0263-2764
1460-3616
DOI:10.1177/0263276414548490