Abstract

Abstract. The article introduces collaborative comic creation (CCC) as a methodological tool. The central question it addresses is how marginalised imaginations of futures can be made visible in the context of the planned Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) in Kenya. The question assumes that infrastructure projects such as the LAPSSET corridor inscribe not only particular ways of moving into a landscape but also one specific temporality that marginalises other future-making practices. The paper participates in the ongoing debate about how imagined futures and future-making practices can be appreciated and analysed methodologically. It thus contributes to the literature on geographies of the future by drawing together conceptual insights from anthropology, infrastructure studies, and critical cartography. Based on these different approaches, the paper proposes to regard future-making practices not only in relation to contentious timelines but also in terms of lines made by moving and drawing on landscapes and surfaces. Using a review of existing social foresight methods as a basis, we describe the practical implementation of CCC. Subsequently, the analysis of one collaboratively produced comic illustrates how the method can help to visualise ambivalent and uncertain imaginations of different futures that oppose the unitary vision of modernity produced by dominant infrastructural visions of a single future. We conclude by reflecting on possible ways of developing the method further.

Highlights

  • “Whose imaginations are employed?” asks MüllerMahn (2019:2) in the context of the production of African futures through mega-infrastructure projects

  • Using future-making practices in relation to the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) corridor as a case study, this article engages with this question in two ways: (a) conceptually it makes the argument for approaching marginal futures through attention to movements, historicities, and images that do not align with infrastructural masterplans, and (b) methodologically it suggests making marginal futures visible through the collaborative creation of comic strips

  • Both Anne and Naddya had extensive experience in the creation of comic stories for and with marginalised communities in Kenya. They had previously mainly focussed on issues affecting young girls in both rural and urban contexts, often addressing sensitive topics such as sexual violence. This previous experience was essential in the planning and implementation of the comic creation (CCC) method, and we suggest that anyone reproducing the method laid out below should try and get people involved in the project who have worked in the area before

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Summary

Introduction

“Whose imaginations are employed?” asks MüllerMahn (2019:2) in the context of the production of African futures through mega-infrastructure projects He argues that “corridor masterplans” (Müller-Mahn, 2019:2) inscribe particular ways of moving into a landscape and specific ways of imagining futures, creating a particular dreamscape of modernity (Jasanoff and Kim, 2015). This paper contributes to the growing literature on geographies of the future by drawing together conceptual insights from anthropology, infrastructure studies, and critical cartography, as well as post-foundational discussions of the pure and the historic event. We illustrate the possible results of CCC through an example of “critical carto(on)graphy” and conclude with some deliberations on the method’s validity and transferability to different contexts

Conceptual outline
Methodological outline
Introducing collaborative comic creation
Preliminary survey
CCC workshops
Synthesis and final artwork
Follow-up survey
Findings
Conclusion
Full Text
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