Abstract
Unequal access to electricity has negatively impacted rural households in Zimbabwe. Energy poverty and its impact cannot be understood only at rural household level, but involve the local community, the government, the nature of the state and international relations. The state, non-state and political actors operate across scales and have relational interactions that help to explain inequality in access to energy. Through a qualitative study of Buhera District, Ward 24 and its scalar political ecology, I explain inequalities of access through actor roles and differential power, also finding that patriarchal gender relations play a critical role in socially producing scale in the household. Scalar relations determine policy decisions that are felt by households denied access to electricity.
Highlights
The lack of access to energy suffered by Zimbabwe's rural households has its origins in multi-scalar relations of power, and the role of state, non-state and political actors
The article offers a nuanced approach to energy poverty by interrogating multi-scalar relations of power, as opposed to stressing the "local." Reaching solutions in the face of energy poverty, decision makers require an appreciation of multi-scalar dynamics, and this unsettles the dominant binaries and master narratives that constrain the way in which energy poverty in Buhera is understood (Brown and Purcell 2005)
Massey's observation is applicable when she questions in what sense are "regional" problems "regional?" (1994: 63). This question can be usefully applied to this study, rephrased as "in what sense is rural energy poverty rural?" It is evident that relational political processes as shown in the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) executive's view can socially produce scale
Summary
The lack of access to energy suffered by Zimbabwe's rural households has its origins in multi-scalar relations of power, and the role of state, non-state and political actors. With an understanding and appreciation of the multi-scalar approach, I pursue an "applied people's geography" (Harvey 1984; Howitt 1993) This requires an effort to understand and intervene in a particular issue with the aim of constructing concepts and abstractions that cast light on the relationships and processes that produce unjust, unsustainable and inequitable realities. This enhances social justice by influencing pro-poor policies in the energy sector: a multi-scalar approach penetrates social reality by tackling issues that are normally taken for granted.
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