In the midst of widespread urban deprivation, African governments increasingly give priority to l... more In the midst of widespread urban deprivation, African governments increasingly give priority to large-scale ultra-modern urban projects, intended to increase national income and propel their urban ...
Recent decades have witnessed deepening processes of informalization and casualization as growing... more Recent decades have witnessed deepening processes of informalization and casualization as growing numbers of Africans rely on economic activities outside state regulation, something widely evident in urban areas. Converging multiple dynamics have resulted in new floods of entrants into the informal economy, including a great expansion in self-employment. Juxtaposed to this are the more long-standing informal activities through which popular groups have coped with the lack of formal work opportunities and basic services. Paralleling these trends is, in some contexts, a resurgence of attempts to bring segments of the informal economy under some form of state regulation. This may be interpreted as selective drives towards some kind of formalization, a development that has also gained impetus in international development discourse. These developments confirm that the boundary between what is and is not to be regulated by the state (or between what is and is not considered legitimate eco...
Introduction: re-spatialising urban informality : reconsidering the spatial politics of street wo... more Introduction: re-spatialising urban informality : reconsidering the spatial politics of street work in the global South
This Article examines the ways in which market vendors in Kampala, Uganda, responded to plans to ... more This Article examines the ways in which market vendors in Kampala, Uganda, responded to plans to redevelop their markets through the concession of long-term leases to private investors. These plans met with massive resistance from the marketers, with significant outcomes. The Article uncovers how the marketers actively negotiated a “gray space” between legality and illegality and creatively used the law, with a view to asserting themselves as the legitimate rulers of their markets. It shows how the marketers engaged in highly diverse modalities of struggle, stretching across the legal/illegal boundary. They organized in multiple configurations which were flexible, hybrid and mutant in character, rather than being fixed in particular organizational categories. In their struggles, the marketers engaged in shifting alliances and with a disparate range of political allies. Their politics were fluid, untamed and pragmatic, but also contradictory and fractured. This flexibility and pragma...
Street workers may engage in multiple forms of agency. This paper conceives of such forms in term... more Street workers may engage in multiple forms of agency. This paper conceives of such forms in terms of a continuum where some forms may evolve into others, dissolve or revert to previous ones. Closer attention is given to the dynamics and trajectories of street workers’ organizations, which vary widely and are poorly understood. In particular, the paper addresses the prospects for and limitations of transformative and sustained collective organization among street workers. Both external and internal processes influencing the dynamics of street workers’ organizations are examined, such as the economic and political context of associations, the nature of their relations with political elites, the governing powers of associations, the nature of their leadership, and who they represent and exclude. This paper enquires into what accounts for demobilization, regression and political disengagement. It also explores whether participation in wider associative networks and collaborations can help overcome some of the fragilities of street workers’ associations, promote their sustainability and broaden their visions. The discussion draws upon literature addressing collective organizing among street workers in a wide range of urban contexts in Africa and the global South.
In the midst of widespread urban deprivation, African governments increasingly give priority to l... more In the midst of widespread urban deprivation, African governments increasingly give priority to large-scale ultra-modern urban projects, intended to increase national income and propel their urban ...
Recent decades have witnessed deepening processes of informalization and casualization as growing... more Recent decades have witnessed deepening processes of informalization and casualization as growing numbers of Africans rely on economic activities outside state regulation, something widely evident in urban areas. Converging multiple dynamics have resulted in new floods of entrants into the informal economy, including a great expansion in self-employment. Juxtaposed to this are the more long-standing informal activities through which popular groups have coped with the lack of formal work opportunities and basic services. Paralleling these trends is, in some contexts, a resurgence of attempts to bring segments of the informal economy under some form of state regulation. This may be interpreted as selective drives towards some kind of formalization, a development that has also gained impetus in international development discourse. These developments confirm that the boundary between what is and is not to be regulated by the state (or between what is and is not considered legitimate eco...
Introduction: re-spatialising urban informality : reconsidering the spatial politics of street wo... more Introduction: re-spatialising urban informality : reconsidering the spatial politics of street work in the global South
This Article examines the ways in which market vendors in Kampala, Uganda, responded to plans to ... more This Article examines the ways in which market vendors in Kampala, Uganda, responded to plans to redevelop their markets through the concession of long-term leases to private investors. These plans met with massive resistance from the marketers, with significant outcomes. The Article uncovers how the marketers actively negotiated a “gray space” between legality and illegality and creatively used the law, with a view to asserting themselves as the legitimate rulers of their markets. It shows how the marketers engaged in highly diverse modalities of struggle, stretching across the legal/illegal boundary. They organized in multiple configurations which were flexible, hybrid and mutant in character, rather than being fixed in particular organizational categories. In their struggles, the marketers engaged in shifting alliances and with a disparate range of political allies. Their politics were fluid, untamed and pragmatic, but also contradictory and fractured. This flexibility and pragma...
Street workers may engage in multiple forms of agency. This paper conceives of such forms in term... more Street workers may engage in multiple forms of agency. This paper conceives of such forms in terms of a continuum where some forms may evolve into others, dissolve or revert to previous ones. Closer attention is given to the dynamics and trajectories of street workers’ organizations, which vary widely and are poorly understood. In particular, the paper addresses the prospects for and limitations of transformative and sustained collective organization among street workers. Both external and internal processes influencing the dynamics of street workers’ organizations are examined, such as the economic and political context of associations, the nature of their relations with political elites, the governing powers of associations, the nature of their leadership, and who they represent and exclude. This paper enquires into what accounts for demobilization, regression and political disengagement. It also explores whether participation in wider associative networks and collaborations can help overcome some of the fragilities of street workers’ associations, promote their sustainability and broaden their visions. The discussion draws upon literature addressing collective organizing among street workers in a wide range of urban contexts in Africa and the global South.
Uploads