The Social and Spiritual Life of Electricity in Tanzania’s Mission Hospitals
Date 29th January 2026, 5.00-7.00 pm
Venue: Audit Room, Kings College, Cambridge and online
Presenters:
- Professor Vendelin Simon, University of Dar es Salaam
- Dr Michael Degani, University of Cambridge
The Social and Spiritual Life of Electricity in Tanzania’s Mission Hospitals
Abstract:
Electricity is a fundamental prerequisite to safe, effective, and healthcare services in rural African settings, yet it is often expensive, unreliable and unevenly distributed. Based on two months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted across five regions in Tanzania, we describe in this talk how Catholic mission hospitals mobilize institutional agency to navigate the precarious energy landscape. We show how they draw on their various networks of donors as well as the sedimentations of existing missionary infrastructure to create a patchwork of energy sources that include state connections, diesel generators, insertion into church powered mini-grids, and independent solar. We then show how this patchwork affects the rhythms, textures, and spatial patterns of work and care amongst nurses, patients, kin, doctors, administrators, and technicians. In drawing on these multiple sources, these institutions exemplify an important strategy for operating in resource-poor environments and embed electricity in an ethic of care.
The seminar will be followed by a drinks reception so there will be time for networking. All welcome – online link below.
https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83738842359?pwd=aqn1Fr7lMQSbHn81pY3JthfpuTKlbZ.1
Meeting ID: 837 3884 2359
Passcode: 918653