THE PARADOX OF POWER: CONNECTION, INEQUALITY, AND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ON TUMBATU ISLAND, ZANZIBAR

Abstract

Recent power outages on the Zanzibar archipelago have drawn attention to the potential for small-scale alternative energy development, but those programs pre­sent their own challenges and dilemmas. Using the example of a solar devel­opment project on Tumbatu Island and the subsequent connection of the Island to the national electric grid, this article considers the paradoxical outcomes of elec­trification. It explores how both solar electricity and connection to the national electric grid created contradictory processes of connection and auton­omy and reinforced hierarchy and differentiation on a local and global scale.