This paper investigates the importance of scale for power dynamics in the negotiation of risks connected to urban rivers in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition to unequal distribution of wealth, global inequalities in the distribution of risk become increasingly important. Scale as a significant dimension of inequality is discussed in the context of Nairobi’s urban rivers, as water scarcity and flooding events are expected to increase and can both be observed within the highly heterogenic city of Nairobi. The paper attempts to answer the overarching question: how do contested definitions of scale influence the distribution of risks in the case of informal settlement along Nairobi’s urban rivers? This contains a conceptual, as well as an empirical dimension. Regarding the conceptual part, riskscapes are introduced and subsequently expanded to include an explicitly scalar dimension. At that, riskscapes are understood as a contemporaneous (and often contradictory) plurality of material and ideational relations that connect risks with people and the environment. A relational focus on fluidity and movement interprets scalar levels as contingent and political and thus not inherent to entities but as the product of negotiable relations. This conceptual background interfaces with the methodology of multi-sited ethnography, which inspires the method of following the river through the fragmented city of Nairobi. Applying this conceptual framing to the case of urban slum-dwellers in Nairobi, it is argued that women are discursively and materially framed to the household level, where they face the highest flooding risk. The level of the body is identified as a susceptible but often neglected scalar framing and is therefore placed in the centre of empirical scrutiny. This informs the conclusion to regard the poor female body in the case of Nairobi’s urban rivers as a sacrifice-scale where risks produced elsewhere are ‘dumped’, addressing the empirical dimension of the research question. This paper’s main contribution is the conceptual merging of the politics of risk and scale, the substantiation of this argument by a relevant case study and subsequently the spotlighting of dynamics of marginalisation through scalar negotiations of risk.

中文翻译：

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风险规模：在内罗毕城市河流非正式定居点的情况下，对牺牲规模的政治进行概念化和分析

本文研究了在肯尼亚内罗毕与城市河流相关的风险谈判中，权力动态规模的重要性。除了财富分配不均之外，全球风险分配的不平等也变得越来越重要。规模作为不平等的一个重要维度是在内罗毕城市河流的背景下讨论的，因为水资源短缺和洪水事件预计会增加，并且在内罗毕高度异质的城市中都可以观察到。本文试图回答一个首要问题：在内罗毕城市河流沿岸的非正式定居点中，有争议的规模定义如何影响风险分布？这包含概念和经验维度。关于概念部分，引入并随后扩展了风险情景，以包括明确的标量维度。就此而言，风险景观被理解为将风险与人和环境联系起来的同时期（通常是相互矛盾的）物质和观念关系的多元性。对流动性和运动的关系关注将标量水平解释为偶然性和政治性，因此不是实体固有的，而是可协商关系的产物。这种概念背景与多地点人种学方法论相结合，激发了沿着河流穿越内罗毕支离破碎的城市的方法。将这一概念框架应用到内罗毕城市贫民窟居民的案例中，有人认为，妇女在话语和物质上被限制在家庭层面，在那里她们面临着最高的洪水风险。身体的水平被确定为易感但经常被忽视的标量框架，因此被置于经验审查的中心。这得出结论，将内罗毕城市河流中的贫困女性身体视为“倾销”其他地方产生的风险的牺牲尺度，解决了研究问题的经验维度。本文的主要贡献是风险政治和规模政治的概念融合，通过相关案例研究证实了这一论点，随后通过风险的标量谈判强调了边缘化的动态。这得出结论，将内罗毕城市河流中的贫困女性身体视为“倾销”其他地方产生的风险的牺牲尺度，解决了研究问题的经验维度。本文的主要贡献是风险政治和规模政治的概念融合，通过相关案例研究证实了这一论点，随后通过风险的标量谈判强调了边缘化的动态。这得出结论，将内罗毕城市河流中的贫困女性身体视为“倾销”其他地方产生的风险的牺牲尺度，解决了研究问题的经验维度。本文的主要贡献是风险政治和规模政治的概念融合，通过相关案例研究证实了这一论点，随后通过风险的标量谈判强调了边缘化的动态。