<P> The bush pump has been the subject of scholarly studies . In their article, "The Zimbabwe Bush Pump: Mechanics of a Fluid Technology", Marianne de Laet and Annemarie Mol analyze the pumps role as an appropriate technology . They focus on the fluidity of the pump, meaning its flexibility both when it comes to how it was invented, how it is used, and what function it has . They make their case by showing that the pump was not invented by one human actor (the opposite of what they call heroic actorship), but through a slow process of fluid actorship, where there is not one clear human creator . The use of the pump is also fluid, it does not only give water to a community, but the construction of the pump can serve an important ceremonial function both locally and nationally . The pump can also be said to be fluid in how it reacts to decay . Even if seemingly essential parts of it mechanics is broken; it can serve functions not intended by any of its creators . The pump is not only its physical appearance or its technical description, Laet and Mol argues: </P> <Dl> <Dd> The first aspect of the pump's fluidity is that its boundaries are not solid and sharp . The Pump is a mechanical object, it is a hydraulic system, but it is also a device installed by the community, a health promoter and a nation - building apparatus . It has each of these identities--and each comes with its own different boundaries...In each of its identities the Bush Pump contains a variant of its environment . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> The first aspect of the pump's fluidity is that its boundaries are not solid and sharp . The Pump is a mechanical object, it is a hydraulic system, but it is also a device installed by the community, a health promoter and a nation - building apparatus . It has each of these identities--and each comes with its own different boundaries...In each of its identities the Bush Pump contains a variant of its environment . </Dd> <P> Laet and Mol argue that their way of analyzing the bush pump can be helpful when trying to understand a wide variety of objects and practices . </P>

The zimbabwe bush pump mechanics of a fluid technology