Infrastructure sovereignty: battling over energy dominance in Jerusalem

This article explores the intersection between nationality, urban space and critical infrastructures through the lens of urban infrastructure politics. It analyses the struggle between the Israeli government and the Palestinian national movement over the Jerusalem District Electricity Company between 1967 and 1987. Based primarily on archival documents and sources, we suggest that each political community aspires to obtain ‘infrastructure sovereignty’. Furthermore, we propose analysing the contestation in six socio-technical arenas of control: spatial, technical, regulative, financial, executive and discursive, thus exposing the practices used to obtain and challenge urban socio-technical control.