One of the key moments along my path ‘through’ sociocultural anthropology was when several years ago I listened to ↑Kurt Beck‘s presentation on the cultural appropriation of the diesel-engine in the Sudan (meanwhile published as ↵Beck 2001). Diesel-powered pumps finally replaced the saqiya, an ox-driven pump used for irrigating the fields located on the banks of river Nile. Later on followed ↵bedford’s metamorphosis: hotbeds of creativity—the appropriation of the truck in Sudan (↵Beck 2004), which inspired Gabriel Kläger’s website ↑Africars—the latter includes an ↑online version of the hotbeds of creativity featuring a ton of insightful pictures illustrating the inventions … Continue reading →