Port (circuit theory)

Engineering

Philosophy

Megaproject

Gender studies

Futures contract

Systems engineering

Economics

Zoning

Business

Temporalities

Making-of

Advertising

Management

Geography

Political science

Epistemology

Sociology

Temporality

Finance

Agency (philosophy)

Electrical engineering

Social science

Antipode

In this paper, we show how communities in Northern Kenya proactively engage an unfolding megaproject and the temporalities it evokes—the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET). We argue that the latitude communities have in contending with megaprojects is broader and more dynamic than passive reception of or outright resistance against the futures promised. By introducing the concepts of entangling and fraying, we emphasise the agency communities create for themselves by appreciating their strategies and expressions of stabilising or troubling the “megaproject”. While entangling refers to practices through which communities attach additional features to an otherwise rather stable vision of its “meganess”, fraying, in contrast, describes the strands that splice off towards different spatio‐temporal imaginaries. We discuss these practices in four instances of engaging LAPSSET: constructing temporary homes at project sites; engaging in land reform; disputing land acquisition at oil exploration sites; and contesting a planned resort city.

The Making and Unmaking of a Megaproject: Contesting Temporalities along the LAPSSET Corridor in Kenya