Publication: Megaprojects—mega failures? The politics of aspiration

Megaprojects are returning to play a key role in the transformation of rural Africa, despite controversies over their outcome. While some view them as promising tools for a ‘big push’ of modernization, others criticize their multiple adverse effects and risk of failure. Against this backdrop, the paper revisits earlier concepts that have explained megaproject failures by referring to problems of managerial complexity and the logics of state-led development. Taking recent examples from Kenya, the paper argues for a more differentiated approach, considering the symbolic role infrastructure megaprojects play in future-oriented development politics as objects of imagination, vision, and hope. We propose to explain the outcomes of megaprojects by focusing on the ‘politics of aspiration’, which unfold at the intersection between different actors and scales. The paper gives an overview of large infrastructure projects in Kenya and places them in the context of the country´s national development agenda ‘Vision 2030′. It identifies the relevant actors and investigates how controversial aspirations, interests and foreign influences play out on the ground. The paper concludes by describing megaproject development as future making, driven by the mobilizing power of the ‘politics of aspiration’. The analysis of megaprojects should consider not only material outcomes but also their symbolic dimension for desirable futures.

Müller-Mahn, D., Mkutu, K., Kioko, E. (2021): Megaprojects—mega failures? The politics of aspiration and the transformation of rural Kenya. The European Journal of Development Research DOI.

More CRC News

cover for a website post

One Man’s Terrorist? Mishake Muyongo and the Caprivi African Nationalist Union: David Anderson Gives Lecture at University of Birmingham

Hybrid Event I February 5th, 2025 | 14:00 – 15:30  (CET) David Anderson (Project A02 Past Futures) will give a lecture at the University of ...
Read More »
screenshot of an article in "the namibian"

Green Hydrogen and Namibia’s Future: Insights from Future Rural Africa Scientists Linus Kalvelage and Benedikt Walker

A recent article in The Namibian explores Namibia’s growing role in the global green hydrogen economy, highlighting the country’s major projects and international partnerships. The ...
Read More »
cover for a web post

GSSC Seminar Series: Wildlife, Tsetse and Pathogens – Rewilding Between Disease Eradication and Coexistence in Southwestern Zambia with Léa Lacan

Tue | February 4th, 2025 | 12:00 – 13:30  (CET) Future Rural Africa & ERC Rewilding researcher Lèa Lacan (Project A04 Future Conservation) will present ...
Read More »

CRC-TRR Public Lecture: Sebastian Haug

Mon | February 3rd, 2025 | 16:00 – 17:30  (CET) Unpacking Power Shifts: The Global South, China, and Multilateral Cooperation Dr. Sebastian Haug (German Institute ...
Read More »
cover for a web post

CRC-TRR Future Rural Africa at Northeast Africa Forum, University of Oxford

Hybrid Event I 29 January 2025 I 15:00 – 18:30 (CET) The uncertainties of rural life in Eastern Africa’s underdeveloped arid and semi-arid districts have ...
Read More »
Scroll to Top