The Contentious Politics of African Urbanization
- Date: 8 November 2022, 15:15–17:00
- Location: SCAS, Thunbergssalen, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: Jeffrey Paller, Fellow, SCAS. Researcher, Program on Governance and Local Development, University of Gothenburg. Associate Professor of Politics, University of San Francisco
- Organiser: Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)
- Contact person: Ellen Werner
Jeffrey Paller, SCAS, University of Gothenburg and University of San Francisco will give a seminar on the topic "The Contentious Politics of African Urbanization". The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
Africa is experiencing a rapid rate of urbanization, yet its impact on politics is unknown. This book project moves beyond modernization theories and structural political economy analysis and treats urbanization as a contentious political process involving new and competing claims to urban space and territory. By analyzing the process of bargaining and negotiation between neighborhoods and the state, I explain why some populations are able to remain in place and gain access to public services – while others are displaced, marginalized, or left behind. Drawing from ongoing cross-national data collection, paired case comparisons between cities and neighborhoods in Ghana and Nigeria, and historical institutional analysis, I argue that two factors account for variation in urban development: local political connections between community members and politicians, and the claims of belonging tied to land ownership and first-comer status.