“Power Poverty: Energy Injustice in South Africa”

Enkanini, South Africa.

Enkanini, South Africa.

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Carruthers, Jane. “Power Poverty: Energy Injustice in South Africa.” Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review, no. 2 (December 2022).

Reflecting on his arrival in Johannesburg from the Eastern Cape in 1941, Nelson Mandela recalled, “We saw before us, glinting in the distance, a maze of lights that seemed to stretch in all directions. Electricity, to me, had always been a novelty, and a luxury, and here was a vast landscape of electricity, a city of light.” His thrill at seeing the brightly lit city reveals a stark contrast between the “landscape of electricity” and the lived reality of Black South Africans then subjected to apartheid. (From the article)

This article was originally published in Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review. The journal is an online publication featuring peer-reviewed articles, creative nonfiction, and artistic contributions that showcase the work of the Rachel Carson Center and its community across the world.

2022 Jane Carruthers

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