Handle with care: navigating the pluriformity of power to enable actionable knowledge for transitions in informal settlements in the global south

Abstract

This Perspective positions urban challenges in informal settlements in the Global South as a question of how to coproduce actionable knowledge for sustainability transitions, and how this relates to power issues. The aim is to inform those who are actively working on sustainability transitions in practice how to navigate the pluriform ways power matters in transitions. Also as a way to reflect on one's doings and as a starting point to develop research and/or policy programs that enable alternative solutions. This Perspective is based on fieldwork in three informal settlements in Kampala and focusses specifically on sustainability issues related to gaining access to, maintenance and control of water services. We highlight the importance of challenging dominant frames of places and communities, coproducing dynamic maps of power relations and interdependencies related to a specific urban challenge and taking into account the contextualized understanding of power relations within a political system.

Evaluative and enabling infrastructures: supporting the ability of urban co-production processes to contribute to societal change

“…It includes both different academic disciplines and other professionals and experts from outside of academia as well as civil society actors taking part in joint research processes (Pohl 2011). This calls for inclusive knowledge production and evaluation that take into account diverse knowledges, needs and goals (Schipper et al 2019;Kabisch 2019). Co-production processes focus explicitly on jointly formulating and undertaking the successive stages of the research together, from initial problem identification to analysis and, where possible, even implementation of the results (Lang et al 2012;Polk 2015).…”

“…Specific attention has been paid to productive interactions, facilitation, co-reflection that produce shared accountability, and reflexive approaches for continuous adaptation of research processes (Roux et al 2010;Spaapen and Van Drooge 2011;Popa et al 2015;Reed and Abernathy 2016;O'Malley et al 2019;Lux et al 2019;respectively). Other proposals have concerned transition experiments, a focus on narrative evaluation methods and navigation of power in transitions (Spaapen and Van Drooge 2011;Luederitz et al 2017;Schipper et al 2019;Termer and Dewulf 2019).…”