Connections and Transformations

Sub programme 2
I.C.E. in Africa: The relationship between people and the internal combustion engine in Africa
Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning, Baz Lecocq, Sebastiaan Soeters, Ntewusu Aniegye

In Africa there is a vast field of study which has never been systematically researched or analysed. In the past hundred years this field has become so pervasive as to now pass us by unnoticed. This is the field of the interaction between people and the Internal Combustion Engine (I.C.E.). Internal combustion engines are those in which motive power comes from the explosion of vapour –usually a petroleum distillate- in a cylinder, and are to be found in virtually every generator, pump, motor-vehicle, and boat on Earth.
Through four case studies, and informed by Actor Network Theory (ANT), the research project seeks to integrate I.C.E. technology within a framework of analysis that explores the interrelationship between people and I.C.E. technology over time in African societies.

The aim of the project is to explore the socio-historical and cultural relationship that has developed between people and I.C.E. in Africa, and to examine how I.C.E. has shaped socio-historical processes.

Using historical and anthropological methods, the (I.) mobile and (II.) stationary applications of I.C.E. technology in interaction with people will be examined in:
I.) a. the social history of the motor-car in Zambia (Jan-Bart Gewald), and
 b. the relationship between motorised transport and perceptions of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca (Baz Lecocq).
II.) c. The social history of Tamale, an African town in Ghana through the lens of I.C.E.-technology (Ntewusu Aniegye), and
d. the manner in which I.C.E.-technology is used in the drive for money in rural Burkina Faso (Sabine Luning).

The project will result in the publication of books and articles, and will make a significant and innovative contribution to the fields of history and cultural anthropology by putting the relationship between people and I.C.E.-technology in Africa on the academic map and future research agendas.

a. I.C.E. in Africa: the relationship between people and the Internal Combustion Engine in Africa
Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning, Baz LeCocq, Sebastiaan Soeters and Ntewusu Aniegye

In Africa there is a vast field of study which has never been systematically researched or analysed. In the past hundred years this field has become so pervasive as to now pass us by unnoticed. This is the field of the interaction between people and the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Internal combustion engines are those in which motive power comes from the explosion of vapour -usually a petroleum distillate- in a cylinder, and are to be found in virtually every generator, pump, motor-vehicle, and boat on Earth.
Through five case studies, and informed by Actor Network Theory (ANT), the research project seeks to integrate ICE technology within a framework of analysis that explores the interrelationship between people and ICE technology over time in African societies.

The aim of the project is to explore the socio-historical and cultural relationship that has developed between people and ICE in Africa, and to examine how ICE has shaped socio-historical processes.