Displaced energy practices: Autonomous design in the context of humanitarian intervention in Goudoubo Camp, Burkina Faso

This chapter addresses the relationship between design and displacement by investigating the role of bottom-up material practices in the context of the Goudoubo refugee camp in Burkina Faso. Based on fieldwork undertaken on the “Energy and Forced Displacement: A Qualitative Approach to Light, Heat and Power in Refugee Camps” research project, the chapter critiques the role of humanitarian agencies in providing clean cooking technologies, notably solar cookers. The chapter asks: How do refugee communities use energy products? Are the products appropriate for the needs of refugees in these settings? It argues that a lack of cultural understanding coupled with limitations in the design of solar cookers led refugee communities to repurpose the discarded solar cookers to provide for their own needs. The chapter explores a key example—a purpose-built storage shelter—which, following Escobar (2018), we argue can be seen as a form of “autonomous design,” in contrast to the imposition of humanitarian design. Through the lens of post-development theory, the chapter explores the need to recognize the resourcefulness of refugee communities. We suggest that humanitarian agencies and designers working in the context of displacement should appreciate the autonomous knowledges, skills and practices of those with whom they work.