(Re-)moving earth, building Kenya – The politics of sand extraction in Kedong

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8944600
AutoresJan Bachmann (0000-0001-9276-0442, University of Gothenburg, autor de correspondencia), Kennedy Mkutu (0000-0002-0104-3374, Alliant University), Evelyne Atieno Owino (0000-0002-5614-3049, BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies)
Año2024
Volumen149
Páginas103949-103949
Fecha de publicación2024-01-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGeoforum (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0016-7185 • E-ISSN: 1872-9398
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.103949
OpenAlexW4391047323
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas32

This article delves into the critical domain of sand mining and trade in the context of rapid urbanization and massive infrastructure development in Kenya. It joins the growing body of work in geography and political ecology that interrogates the social and political intricacies that govern the removal and forwarding of this ‘mundane’ mineral. More specifically, this article seeks to reappraise the concept of extractivism a term often applied in the discussion of mining of more inherently valuable commodities, describing a form of accumulation based on the depletion of resources in the context of unequal relations. The article focuses on Kedong Valley, a place of colossal sand removal operations, significant revenue generation, and enclave characteristics. It is an area where contestations around the environment, land ownership and use, livelihoods and political authority have long intersected and where sand mining ventures have raised the stakes for control over the land. However, uncharacteristic for extractivism, instead of a few dominant actors, the extractive agents in the Kenyan sand business are many, close and fragmented. The need for effective governance of sand extraction ties together different claims to regulatory authority expressed through norms, regulations, interests and coercion. The self-organization of loaders, for example, has built considerable leverage for collective claim-making, exposing the ‘socially thick’ relations of extraction practices. The paper demonstrates that the concept of extractivism realizes its analytical value when complementing its structural take with attending to how claims to political authority are made through extraction practices in concrete places

Business · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Geography · Kenya · Land tenure · Leverage (statistics · Livelihood · Natural resource · Political ecology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Ecology · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Water Governance and Infrastructure