Waste Works: Vital Politics in Urban Ghana

In Waste Works, Brenda Chalfin explores how the planned city of Tema in Ghana uses waste infrastructure to cultivate self-contained citizens and depoliticize the nation. She argues that by pushing self-care into public space and extending domestic responsibility for public well-being, popular waste infrastructures can be a decisive arena for making claims, building coalitions, and cultivating status.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 05 May 2023
Publisher: Duke University Press

Brenda Chalfin delves into the intriguing realm of waste management in her book, Waste Works. Through her analysis of Ghana's planned city of Tema, Chalfin explores the profound impact of waste infrastructure on urban politics and public life. She argues that at the time of Tema's founding in the mid-century, the governing authorities had a central objective: to cultivate self-sufficient citizens through tightly orchestrated domestic infrastructure and centralized control of bodily excrement. This strategy aimed to both develop and depoliticize the young nation.

Chalfin conducts a comparative study of infrastructural innovations across the city, uncovering how Tema residents have responded to urban waste and sanitation challenges by building upon the remnants of the inherited order. These innovative approaches redefine the urban public sphere, shifting the responsibility for waste management from state authorities to private individuals. By pushing self-care into public spaces and extending domestic responsibilities for public well-being and bodily outputs, popular waste infrastructures become crucial arenas for claiming authority, forming alliances, and cultivating status.

In contrast to high-modernist ideals, excremental infrastructures unlock a wide range of political potentials by challenging the conventional boundaries between the private and public realms. They highlight the interconnectedness of human bodies and waste, emphasizing the need for collective action and responsibility in managing our waste. Through her insightful analysis, Chalfin sheds light on the complex dynamics of urban governance, where waste management becomes a powerful tool for shaping urban spaces, identities, and power relations.

Weight: 654g
Dimension: 154 x 232 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478019589