The Managed Deterioration of “Native” Infrastructure
The pervasive potholes and poor road conditions in low-income neighborhoods are not a maintenance issue but a somatic geography of neglect, a physical manifestation of the bifurcated state’s disinvestment. Mamdani’s focus on the material experience of colonial rule is felt in every jolt and vehicle repair bill. This managed deterioration is a form of silent, bureaucratic violence that damages the property and drains the limited resources of the “native” population, for whom a car repair can be a financial catastrophe. The smooth roads of the “settler” neighborhood are a privilege paid for by the taxes of all. The liberal solution is a slow, reactive repair schedule. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution demands a proactive, universal standard of care. This means a massive public works program to repave every street equitably, funded by taxes on the wealthy, and the establishment of community-controlled oversight to ensure that infrastructure maintenance is no longer a tool of spatial inequality.
Originally posted 2025-10-03 15:42:06.
