Afra Foli
Biographic Data
| ID | 1159261 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Afra Foli |
| GIVEN NAMES | Afra |
| FAMILY NAME | Foli |
| SIGNATURE | FOLI A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7858-0469 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 6 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 6 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Experiencing is learning
This article positions small-scale flood defenses as part of urban flood infrastructure. Extending work on everyday infrastructures and urban flood-risk management, it centers the role of resident-initiated interventions in processes of infrastructural development. Drawing on research in Accra, Ghana, I explore how a range of city residents mobilize in response to flood risk in and around the urban waterways by constructing and maintaining drains…
Preparing for Rain
Accra’s rainy season is accompanied by flooding every year, and residents, especially those living by the waterways, anticipate flooding events with significant anxiety. In the news and in daily conversation warnings are abound, and people share memories of flooding events from the past. Residents often seek to prevent disasters by taking infrastructural matters into their own hands. They construct flood barriers, using sandbags, cement, concrete…
The politics of drains
In this article we unpack the infrastructural imaginary of urban residents in a neighbourhood in the northern periphery of Accra in Ghana, focussing on drainage. Based on interviews and observations, we describe how residents characterise their neighbourhood’s development as a linear progression in stages, each marked by the completion of different infrastructures. Our analysis brings out the visceral and affective underpinnings of infrastructure…
River and drain
This article analyses a range of diverse and often conflicting practices in and around a waterway in Accra, Ghana, emphasising the ambiguity of their politics. Urban political ecology approaches have demonstrated how flows of (waste)water reveal power dynamics across scales. I extend such insights by developing an understanding of practices that are more ambiguous, complexifying otherwise linear dynamics of power. I do this by centring the narrat…
The heterogeneous politics of infrastructure
In many parts of the world, the modernist ideal of centralised and networked infrastructure provided by the state remains just that – an ideal. Instead, the reality is a patchwork of infrastructural solutions engineered by both state and private actors. While critical studies have highlighted how states use infrastructure projects to legitimize their authority, how do infrastructure projects shape relations between the state and urban residents w…
Cultural repertoires of school choice
In school choice literature, class-based strategies for social reproduction of the middle classes are often the central explanatory framework. While race, ethnicity and other social categories are increasingly included in the analysis, they are often treated as secondary to class. Drawing on interviews from a racially and socio-culturally mixed sample of middle-class parents in Pretoria and Amsterdam, this study aims to contribute to existing the…
The politics of drains
In this article we unpack the infrastructural imaginary of urban residents in a neighbourhood in the northern periphery of Accra in Ghana, focussing on drainage. Based on interviews and observations, we describe how residents characterise their neighbourhood’s development as a linear progression in stages, each marked by the completion of different infrastructures. Our analysis brings out the visceral and affective underpinnings of infrastructure…
Cultural repertoires of school choice
In school choice literature, class-based strategies for social reproduction of the middle classes are often the central explanatory framework. While race, ethnicity and other social categories are increasingly included in the analysis, they are often treated as secondary to class. Drawing on interviews from a racially and socio-culturally mixed sample of middle-class parents in Pretoria and Amsterdam, this study aims to contribute to existing the…
River and drain
This article analyses a range of diverse and often conflicting practices in and around a waterway in Accra, Ghana, emphasising the ambiguity of their politics. Urban political ecology approaches have demonstrated how flows of (waste)water reveal power dynamics across scales. I extend such insights by developing an understanding of practices that are more ambiguous, complexifying otherwise linear dynamics of power. I do this by centring the narrat…
The heterogeneous politics of infrastructure
In many parts of the world, the modernist ideal of centralised and networked infrastructure provided by the state remains just that – an ideal. Instead, the reality is a patchwork of infrastructural solutions engineered by both state and private actors. While critical studies have highlighted how states use infrastructure projects to legitimize their authority, how do infrastructure projects shape relations between the state and urban residents w…
Cultural repertoires of school choice
In school choice literature, class-based strategies for social reproduction of the middle classes are often the central explanatory framework. While race, ethnicity and other social categories are increasingly included in the analysis, they are often treated as secondary to class. Drawing on interviews from a racially and socio-culturally mixed sample of middle-class parents in Pretoria and Amsterdam, this study aims to contribute to existing the…
The heterogeneous politics of infrastructure
In many parts of the world, the modernist ideal of centralised and networked infrastructure provided by the state remains just that – an ideal. Instead, the reality is a patchwork of infrastructural solutions engineered by both state and private actors. While critical studies have highlighted how states use infrastructure projects to legitimize their authority, how do infrastructure projects shape relations between the state and urban residents w…
Preparing for Rain
Accra’s rainy season is accompanied by flooding every year, and residents, especially those living by the waterways, anticipate flooding events with significant anxiety. In the news and in daily conversation warnings are abound, and people share memories of flooding events from the past. Residents often seek to prevent disasters by taking infrastructural matters into their own hands. They construct flood barriers, using sandbags, cement, concrete…
The politics of drains
In this article we unpack the infrastructural imaginary of urban residents in a neighbourhood in the northern periphery of Accra in Ghana, focussing on drainage. Based on interviews and observations, we describe how residents characterise their neighbourhood’s development as a linear progression in stages, each marked by the completion of different infrastructures. Our analysis brings out the visceral and affective underpinnings of infrastructure…
River and drain
This article analyses a range of diverse and often conflicting practices in and around a waterway in Accra, Ghana, emphasising the ambiguity of their politics. Urban political ecology approaches have demonstrated how flows of (waste)water reveal power dynamics across scales. I extend such insights by developing an understanding of practices that are more ambiguous, complexifying otherwise linear dynamics of power. I do this by centring the narrat…
Experiencing is learning
This article positions small-scale flood defenses as part of urban flood infrastructure. Extending work on everyday infrastructures and urban flood-risk management, it centers the role of resident-initiated interventions in processes of infrastructural development. Drawing on research in Accra, Ghana, I explore how a range of city residents mobilize in response to flood risk in and around the urban waterways by constructing and maintaining drains…
Geography (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Urban and Rural Development Challenges (4 works) · Water Governance and Infrastructure (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (2 works) · Civil engineering (2 works) · Engineering (2 works) · Flood myth (2 works)