Negotiating Informality: Explaining Political Behavior in Urban Slums

• In Event: Comparative Urban Politics

Abstract

Nearly one-sixth of humanity live in urban “slums” — neighborhoods that lack access to secure property rights and basic services — and this number is increasing rapidly as developing countries continue to urbanize. Despite their proximity to public servants and public services, slum residents remain largely disconnected from the formal institutions that serve as a source of economic vitality for other city residents. On top of exclusion from government resources, slum residents are also subjected to threats of displacement and financial exploitation from a range of both state and non-state actors. To mitigate these vulnerabilities, residents draw on a set of informal political strategies to negotiate with the state for material improvements. Yet, despite a shared context of poverty and informality, residents of different slums vary considerably in how they engage politically. What explains these differences in political behavior across settlements? And what are the implications for how scarce but crucial resources are distributed in rapidly growing urban areas? Drawing on in-depth case studies of five settlements in Bengaluru, India, I propose an original framework to explain how neighborhood characteristics shape both political strategies and development trajectories across urban Indian slums. I argue settlements vary along two key dimensions — access to government-protected resources (including, for example, property rights and identification documents) and strength of informal political networks — that are crucial for understanding political behavior. Both dimensions uniquely contribute to residents’ vulnerability and shape whether and how residents organize politically to demand material improvements. This process plays out over time, and the degree to which these efforts are successful feeds back into residents’ future beliefs and strategies. This framework engenders several testable hypotheses on the relationships between neighborhood characteristics, political behavior, and prospects for neighborhood development. I test this framework with original survey data from nearly 10,000 households from over 200 neighborhoods from Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Patna, India. These original survey data comprise the most comprehensive data on Indian slums currently available to researchers. The findings not only have important implications for understanding development outcomes, but also for understanding how the urban poor understand and exercise their rights as citizens.

Author

• Emily Rains, Duke University