From ruins and rubble: promised and suspended futures in Kenya (and beyond)

In the first quarter of twenty-first century, much future-making in Kenya is taking place ruins unfinished promising projects, failed capitalist enterprises, and decades colonial postcolonial exclusion marginalization. When discussing specifically Africa more generally, especially context vision-driven developmentalist narratives that rely on visions linear progress growth, analysts social scientists need to account for ways futures emerge from rubble undelivered uncertain promises, collapsed industries, dispossession land rights. This article establishes overarching argumentation framing “Living with Ruins” special collection, outlines key theoretical concepts like ruination, infrastructuring, future-making, examines ruination economic political domains make claims Kenya’s future: boom-and-bust economies, mega-scale infrastructure urban development. all these domains, are emerging through assemblages people’s everyday practices maintenance surround them, complicating facile proclamations Africa’s rising or abjection.