New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Christiane Tristl, "Turning Water into Commodity: Digital Innovation and the Private Sector as Development Agent" (Bristol UP, 2025)
Mar 8, 2026
Christiane Tristl, an economic geographer studying digital tech and the marketisation of water, discusses how private-sector digital systems reshape water access in Kenya. She traces a water dispenser story, critiques Northern-designed technologies for Southern contexts, explores dashboards and data blindspots, and considers alternatives like cooperatives and degrowth approaches.
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Tracing One Dispenser From Denmark To Kenya
- Christiane Tristl traced the Pago water dispenser from Denmark to Kenyan villages to reframe development through an object biography.
- She found the device unexpectedly alien in local contexts, prompting her to abandon preset comparative frameworks and 'follow the thing' in the field.
Inclusion Can Mean Being Added As Paying Customers
- Inclusion via digital marketization made residents paying customers while leaving everyday water realities unchanged.
- Nairobi Water gained traceable revenue and data for financialization, but local prices and access patterns often stayed the same.
Becoming The Project Anthropologist To Gain Access
- Gaining access to the Danish company took persistence and personal outreach to an engineer who then became a regular contact.
- Tristl became, in effect, the project's anthropologist, trading field knowledge while critiquing the technology.
