Livelihoods Limitations: The Political Economy of Urban Poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Research in Bangladesh reveals the limitations of actor-oriented frameworks for understanding urban poverty that assess household livelihoods on the basis of a household's portfolio of assets or capitals. The narrow focus of these frameworks on households and their depoliticized definition of social capital overlook the political roots of urban poverty. The informal systems of governance that dominate resource distribution within low-income settlements ensure that the social resources necessary for long-term household improvement are confined to a small elite. Only through extending our analysis beyond the household level, to explore their position within this local political economy of employment and enterprise, can we recognize the limitations placed on household efforts to improve their livelihoods.

Coping Strategies of the Urban Poor: A Case Study From Ghana

“…This view was raised by Mr. Potter, an international management and development trainer, in the 2 September 2013, Graphic Online, that tertiary institutions in Ghana have to produce graduates with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit instead of only focusing on theoretical knowledge and getting certificates. This is consistent with Banks’ (2016) claim that competency, educational credentials, and experience though necessary, are insufficient in securing employment in the urban labor markets.…”

Navigating the city: dialectics of everyday urbanism

“…norms, reciprocity) and natural (e.g. land, environmental conditions) capital, and it is through household and community accumulations within and between these assets that people move from vulnerable to more stable positions (see also Banks ; Bebbington ; Wilke ).…”

“…Whether Friedrich Engels () on Manchester or Jane Jacobs () on New York or AbdouMaliq Simone () on Jakarta, or in the landmark writings of – to name a few – Walter Benjamin (), Michel De Certeau () and Henri Lefebvre (), the nature, relations and potential of the everyday life of the city has been interrogated from an array of different political and intellectual perspectives. There is a growing literature focused largely on the global South that examines the making of everyday life in economically marginal urban contexts (see, for example, Banks ; Bayat ; De Boeck ; Gill ; Kihato ; Lomnitz ; McFarlane et al . ; Moser ; Silver ; Simone ).…”

Unequal Conditions: A Systematic Review of the Relationship between Urban Poverty and Psychological Resilience

“…The concept of resilience is a dynamic construct, varies at multiple and vertical levels (e.g., individual, familial, social, community, system), at the same time, it is expressed in different horizontal ways such as personal, interpersonal, and group relationships [4]. In relation with urban poverty, this (UP) as construct can be defined in two conceptually different ways [15,46]: lacking income, or lacking possibilities to act due to limited assets, capabilities and resources [19,47]. So, for either approach, it makes more sense to measure UP at a household level rather than at an individual level [46].…”

“…In relation with urban poverty, this (UP) as construct can be defined in two conceptually different ways [15,46]: lacking income, or lacking possibilities to act due to limited assets, capabilities and resources [19,47]. So, for either approach, it makes more sense to measure UP at a household level rather than at an individual level [46]. Therefore, a combination of physical, natural, human, financial and social capitals can provide a base through which low-income households can reduce risk and secure their livelihoods, potentially leading to escaping poverty.…”