Overview

Flows of Violence offers a profound ethnographic exploration of the intricate relationship between violence and water infrastructure in one of Colombia’s most marginalized cities. This groundbreaking work engages with the concept of “infrastructural violence,” revealing how the Colombian state’s neglect and inadequate provision of water services perpetuate inequality and suffering among Buenaventura’s residents. Through extensive fieldwork, FernÁndez provides rich empirical data and firsthand accounts that bring to light the daily struggles and resilience of the city’s inhabitants. The book critically examines how everyday crime and state neglect intersect, altering the improvised practices of water storage and access among the population. It also highlights the innovative mechanisms employed by social movements and ordinary citizens to cope with and resist these challenges. Flows of Violence is an essential read for scholars in anthropology, geography, and Latin American studies, offering valuable insights into the sociopolitical impacts of infrastructure. This timely contribution underscores the urgent need for equitable infrastructure development and social justice, making it a pivotal text for understanding urban poverty and state dynamics in Latin America and beyond.

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9780816555871

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Reviews

""Flows of Violence provides a fascinating exploration of water infrastructure in the Colombian port city of Buenaventura and the violence that the city's residents face as result of the state's inadequate provision of water. Through careful ethnographic research, the author shows how the city's residents have navigated this situation through the production of their own infrastructure, expertise, and activism. The result is a book that will be of interest to scholars and students in a wide range of fields, such as science and technology studies, anthropology, and urban studies.""--Maximilian Viatori, author of The Unequal Ocean: Living with Environmental Change along the Peruvian Coast ""In this theoretically grounded and ethnographically rich monograph, Fernández gives the reader a front-row view of the logics of infrastructural violence and the violence of everyday life that Afro-Colombians in the port city of Buenaventura experience because of systemic racism and state abandonment. Through firsthand accounts and gripping stories of gun violence from the field, underlaid with theoretical concepts, Fernández provides the reader with a vivid picture of the precarity that Afro-Colombians in Buenaventura experience in their search for water security. Ultimately, Fernández argues, and convincingly demonstrates, why infrastructural violence as it relates to water supply is mediated by gang violence, racism, and state neglect, making the everyday lives of Afro-Colombians in Buenaventura precarious and full of danger.""--Vinay Kamat, author of In a Wounded Land: Conservation, Extraction, and Human Well-Being in Coastal Tanzania

Author Information

Felipe FernÁndez is an assistant professor of social and cultural anthropology at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research focuses on infrastructures, state bureaucracy, and expert cultures in Latin America.

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