Politics of the Poor and Political Work

Abstract

Sociological literature on urban poor struggles has produced a rich and vibrant scholarship on the mobilisations of urban poor groups for state welfare and resources. These struggles for basic services and resources essential to survival have been studied as ‘everyday politics’, the ‘politics of life’ and more broadly as ‘the politics of the poor’ or ‘politics of the governed’. Recent ethnographic research has revealed how these engagements are lived and experienced as ‘political work’ and not just as struggles or mobilisations. This discussion piece examines ‘political work’ detailing why these engagements are ‘political’ and why poor women reclaim their engagements with the State as ‘work’. Reviewing the literature on urban poor politics, citizenship and everyday politics, this piece examines how ‘political work’ reveals new forms of gendered work that reinforce the social reproductive roles of women even as women enter the public realm.