Associational Life in African Cities: Popular Responses to the Urban Crisis

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“…A key issue which has not been sufficiently discussed in existing debates about progress and development in Zimbabwe is how communities in particular and the country in general survived without substantive aid from outside. According to Miles (2001), female urbanites rely on informal networks for their survival. They mobilize resources through rotating savings and credit systems whose members contribute a certain amount on a regular basis.…”

“…Some have used this system to buy land, property and/or to start a business. In addition, Miles shows that these networks are also used by the members as a therapeutic function in terms of well-being (Miles, 2001).…”

“…AbdouMaliq Simone's study of Soumbedioune in Dakar and Johannesburg undertaken in the late 1990s emphasizes the fluidity of informal networks. However, it is this "fluidity that defies formalization and produces a situation of invisibility" that makes this a powerful platform and flexible tool for "responding to windows of opportunity, as and when they appear" (ibid, 28).MirandaMiles (2001) in her study of informal networks of women in Swaziland shows that in vulnerable positions on the lower rungs of the employment ladder, individuals, households and communities mobilize whatever resources they command to eke out a living. Apart from the tangible assets at their disposal, women create and draw on networks to enhance their resilience and chances of survival.…”

Regierungstechniken der Enteignung : Kritik eines städtischen Großprojektes in Dar es Salaam/Tansania

“…Urbanisierung in Afrika, so die weithin vertretene Ansicht, sei im Gegensatz zur sozioökonomischen Transition hin zur Verstädterung der Gesellschaften Europas im Zuge der Industrialisierung als ein "poverty-driven process" zu verstehen (Anderson & Rathbone 2000: 9; UN Habitat 2010: 6f). In der Konsequenz sind die Städte Afrikas in überwiegendem Maße im Sinne defizitorientierter Auseinandersetzungen und als eine mehr oder minder kontinuierliche urbane Krise behandelt worden (Myers & Murray 2006: 1;Rakodi 1997Rakodi , 2002Tostensen et al 2001). Wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzungen mit rapidem Bevölkerungswachstum, Urbanisierungsgrad und Ausweitung informeller Wohnquartiere führten zu Begrifflichkeiten wie "planet of slums" oder "perverse urbanism" (Davis 2006), "over-urbanization" (Gugler 1997;Rakodi 1997) und "Shock Cities" (Knox & Marston 2003).…”