The Politics of Urban Violence: Challenges for Development in the Global South

Moncada, Eduardo

doi:10.1007/s12116-013-9133-z

Cited by 112 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Although this and related concepts will not be covered in detail in this paper [5], habitus disposes youths to make their own transition to a culturally valued, and thus common and reproduced, gendered self; expressing agency and dynamism in doing so, though their subjectively held experience of masculinisation. In short boys are disposed to become men in a way that reflects the older men around them.…”

Section: Masculinities and Violence ''Reproduction''mentioning

confidence: 99%

The violent gang and the construction of masculinity amongst socially excluded young men

Baird

2012

Safer Communities

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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to help in understanding the relationship between the construction of the male identity and how social violence may be “reproduced” (using the concept of habitus after Pierre Bourdieu), in poor and socially excluded contexts. The paper aims to inform debate and policy making.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on empirical data collected in 2008, in the form of life‐history interviews with male youths – including members and non‐members of gangs – from two poor and very violent neighbourhoods in Medellín, Colombia's second largest city.FindingsMasculinities alone do not account for urban violence, but they play an integral role why violence is reproduced. In socio‐economically excluded contexts the gang becomes an attractive vehicle for “doing masculinity” for boys and young men. Youths who did not join gangs tended to have family support to develop a “moral rejection” of gangs, crime and violence during childhood, which contributed to them finding non‐gang pathways to manhood. Youths who joined gangs were less likely to develop this “moral rejection” during childhood, often due to family problems; and were more likely to admire older gang members, and perceive the gang as an attractive pathway to manhood.Research limitations/implicationsAs the sole researcher a limited number of 32 individuals were interviewed.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research on masculinities and gang affiliation in the UK and across the globe. This paper provides new conceptual ideas for understanding why young men make up the vast majority of violent gang members, whilst providing an original data set from a very violent urban setting.

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Section: Masculinities and Violence ''Reproduction''mentioning

confidence: 99%

The violent gang and the construction of masculinity amongst socially excluded young men

Baird

2012

Safer Communities

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“…These elements of, in the first instance, complexity and contestation, and in the second instance, continuity and consensus within the Brazilian state, support the argument that, when not applied with great care, urban neoliberalization theory can end up concealing as much as it reveals about cities of the global South (Parnell and Robinson, ). Unlike in the global North—where inequalities of capitalist development may often be tempered by state involvement (Fainstein, )—in the global South, greater state involvement by no means leads to more equal public benefits (see also Bezmez, ; Moncada, ). Yet, on the other hand, the central role of the Brazilian state in processes of securitization and social cleansing and also in the provision of housing and infrastructure in lower‐income areas makes it problematic to label these policies collectively as ‘neoliberal'.…”

Section: Discussion: a Post‐third‐world City Or Neoliberal City Of Exmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Post‐Third‐World City' or Neoliberal ‘City of Exception'? Rio de Janeiro in the Olympic Era

Richmond

Garmany

2016

Int J Urban Regional Res

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This article considers processes of urban development within the context of mega‐event preparations in Rio de Janeiro. We begin with a brief overview of these development processes, highlighting their connections to political and economic change in recent years. Proponents of these mega‐event‐led initiatives argue that Rio is undergoing a period of inclusive growth and integration: a perspective we call here a ‘post‐Third‐World city' narrative of urban renewal. Critics, however, contend that urban officials are harnessing mega‐events (e.g. the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games) to push forward a neoliberal agenda of socially unjust policies benefiting the interests of capital and marginalizing the city's poor and especially its favelas (i.e. the ‘city‐of‐exception' thesis). In this article we explore the insights of these two perspectives and consider why they have grown popular in recent years. Though we side generally with the city‐of‐exception thesis, we argue that important geographic and historical particularities must also be accounted for. Without carefully situating analytical perspectives empirically—in particular, cases in which theoretical models are drawn from European and North American contexts—urban researchers risk concealing more than they reveal in analyses of rapidly developing countries like Brazil.

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“…Respondents from thirty-six developing countries ranked crime as one of their top two concerns in the 2010-2014 wave of the World Values Survey. 19 Public concern is also understandable in light of the prevalence of police inefficacy, corruption, and human rights violations (e.g., Hinton and Newburn, 2009;Moncada, 2013). Despite its fundamental importance, however, the politics of law and order has received little attention from scholars of comparative politics until recently.…”

Section: Cities and The Rule Of Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities and Politics in the Developing World

Post

2018

Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci.

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The last 20 years have witnessed an impressive outpouring of comparative politics research examining urban politics in the developing world. This research advances our understanding of phenomena such as clientelism, law and order, and local public goods provision. Scholarship could be strengthened, however, through more careful attention to how the urban setting of this research affects the politics examined. This article proposes two distinct ways in which urban politics can be conceptualized: politics taking place in urban agglomerations, characterized by large, diverse populations settled at high densities; or politics taking place within the boundaries of city jurisdictions, possessing legal powers and responsibilities distinct from those at other tiers of government or in rural areas. Adopting either of these conceptualizations illuminates new avenues for empirical work, theoretical innovation, and improved measurement. This article also shows that recent scholarship has neglected important, and fundamentally political, topics such as urban political economy, land markets, and environmental harms. Engaging with these areas would allow political scientists to revisit classic questions regarding the institutional influences on economic growth, the politics of redistribution, and the determinants of collective action.

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The Politics of Urban Violence: Challenges for Development in the Global South

Cited by 112 publications

References 102 publications

The violent gang and the construction of masculinity amongst socially excluded young men

The violent gang and the construction of masculinity amongst socially excluded young men

‘Post‐Third‐World City' or Neoliberal ‘City of Exception'? Rio de Janeiro in the Olympic Era

Cities and Politics in the Developing World

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