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Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the next Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series presentation. Our speaker will be Jennifer N. Brass, Ph.D., associate professor at the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. No registration required.

Access to electricity in Kenya has increased rapidly in the last decade. Just ten years ago, less than 50% of the population had access to electricity; by 2023, nearly 80% of the population had access, and the state has an ambitious goal of increasing access to 100% by 2030, using renewable energy sources.

The social and political outcomes of this rapid change are not well understood. In particular, it is unclear how increasing access to electricity affects political participation.

In most of the world, citizens with reliable power can choose how they engage with the state. Electricity enables people to socialize independently and to make claims on authorities through communication technologies from the comfort of their homes. But in parts of the world where access to electricity is scarce yet expanding quickly, what happens in the near term after people gain access? As more people obtain electricity and enabling technologies such as smartphones, can we observe measurable shifts in participation? Do these patterns vary based on levels of electricity or the quality of access?

In this seminar, Brass-a leading scholar of service, provision, governance, and state development in sub-Saharan Africa-will examine these questions using original survey and focus group discussion data from Kenya.

Brass is the author of Allies or Adversaries? NGOs and the State in Africa (Cambridge University Press; winner of the 2018 ARNOVA Outstanding Book Award), which explores how nongovernmental organizations influence state-society relations and development in Kenya. Her ongoing research investigates the politics and governance of renewable and small‑scale electricity provision across Africa, making her particularly well‑positioned to speak to the intersection of energy access, governance, and citizen participation.

Part of the UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series, organized by the Nicholas Institute and the University Program in Environmental Policy (UPEP), a doctoral degree program jointly offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment and Sanford School of Public Policy at É«½äÖ±²¥ University.