Provincialising Waste

The Transformation of Ambulance Car 7/83-2 to Tro-Tro Dr. Jesus

Bibliographic Data

ID4476374
AuthorsUli Beisel (0000-0002-0741-7218, Department of Geography, Open University and Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, England, corresponding author), Tillmann Schneider (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume30
Issue4
Pages639-654
Publication date2012-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/d9610
OpenAlexW2171962796
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited31

This paper is concerned with the material and social transformation of a German ambulance car into a Ghanaian minibus-called tro-tros in Ghana. We track the journey of a Mercedes Benz 310 from Winnenden in Germany to Kumasi in Ghana and examine the transformation of Rettungswagen 7/83-2 to tro-tro Dr. JESUS. Tracing the car's geobiography enables us to explore a specific material relation between Europe and West Africa. Considering debates on technology transfer and transformation, we argue for a nuanced understanding of 'fluid technologies' that includes opportunities but also emphasises the dangers implicated in the transfer and transformation of objects. Furthermore, by locating the reused bus within international trade in discarded objects, we introduce the notion of 'provincialising waste' to underline changing uses and values of objects. In this paper we suggest that careful attention needs to be paid to the ambivalent geobiographies of secondhand objects

Ambivalence · Archaeology · Biology · Business · Geography · German · Political science · Social change · Social transformation · Transformation (genetics · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Psychology · Social Psychology · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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