Urban Violence Is Not (Necessarily) a Way of Life: Towards a Political Economy of Conflict in Cities

Rodgers, Dennis

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590148.003.0013

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, Eric Hobsbawm (2005: 1) points out that ‘whatever else a city might be, it is at the same time a place inhabited by a concentration of poor people and, in most cases, the locus of political power which affects their lives’. It is the existence of a disjuncture between the two that generally leads to the emergence of urban violence, and not the fact that cities are putatively inherently alienating spaces (see Rodgers, forthcoming). In other words, urban violence and conflict are a function of the economic and political relations that exist within a city rather than anything to do with the intrinsic nature of cities.…”

Section: From ‘Peasant Wars’ To ‘Urban Wars’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Slum Wars of the 21st Century: Gangs, Mano Dura and the New Urban Geography of Conflict in Central America

Rodgers¹

2009

Development and Change

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138

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The political economy of violence in Central America is widely perceived as having undergone a critical shift during the past two decades, often pithily summarized as a movement from 'political' to 'social' violence. Although such an analysis is plausible, it also offers a depoliticized vision of the contemporary Central American panorama of violence. Basing itself principally on the example of Nicaragua, the country in the region that is historically perhaps most paradigmatically associated with violence, this article offers an alternative interpretation of the changes that the regional landscape of violence has undergone. It suggests that these are better understood as a movement from 'peasant wars of the twentieth century' to 'urban wars of the twenty-first century' (Beall, 2006), thereby highlighting how present-day urban violence can in many ways be seen as representing a structural continuation of past political conflicts, albeit in new spatial contexts. At the same time, however, there are certain key differences between past and present violence, as a result of which contemporary conflict has intensified. This is most visible in relation to the changing forms of urban spatial organization in Central American cities, the heavy-handed mano dura response to gangs by governments, and the dystopian evolutionary trajectory of gangs. Taken together, these processes point to a critical shift in the balance of power between rich and poor in the region, as the new 'urban wars of the twenty-first century' are increasingly giving way to more circumscribed 'slum wars' that effectively signal the defeat of the poor.

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Section: From ‘Peasant Wars’ To ‘Urban Wars’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Slum Wars of the 21st Century: Gangs, Mano Dura and the New Urban Geography of Conflict in Central America

Rodgers¹

2009

Development and Change

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138

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“…Tevera (2013) posits that the convoluted spaces of deprivation in urban areas should form part of the discourse on violence in urban South Africa. The connection between urban poverty, xenophobia and violence in industrialised and developing countries is not a uniquely South African phenomenon (Rodgers 2010;Morapedi 2007;McKnight 2008). However, fragile economies and political instability in certain regions in Africa have triggered large flows of migrants from their home countries to South Africa (Tevera 2011;Crush & Tevera 2010;Rusinga et al 2012).…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed Narrative Discourses: Analysing the South African Government’s Response to Xenophobia in 2015

Mkhize¹,

Cele²

2019

Alternation

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This study examines the South African government's responses to the xenophobia of 2015. As xenophobia attracted political interest from opposition within South Africa, statements from certain government officials were embedded in mixed narrative discourses, some bringing trouble while some were accountable. South Africa is a country that prides itself on its Bill of Rights and Foreign Policy that promote global peace and human rights for all which comes with a huge political responsibility. Even though the South African government had some positive responses, such interventions were not effective to curb violence against foreign nationals in the country. This study is grounded on qualitative research designs that incuded critical discourse of media reports and random interviews. Hence, the study underscores the complex dynamics of contextualisation of xenophobia and placing the South African society under international scrutiny. The government's mixed responses have led to manipulation of xenophobic tendencies among corrupt political, societal and international constituents, crumbling law enforcement systems, increasing (including illegal) migration and debilitated urban spaces, and poor communication between the central government and ordinary residents. This article concludes that, for the South African state to address xenophobia, it must firstly contextualise xenophobia and its attacks to better render suitable interventions to end xenophobia in the country.

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“…8. Rodgers, Dennis (2010), "Urban violence is not (necessarily) a way of life: towards political economy of conflict in cities", UnU-WIDER, Working Paper no 2010/20, 14 pages.…”

Section: The Turn To the (Violent) City: "Humanitarianizing" Urbamentioning

confidence: 99%

The “humanitarianization” of urban violence

Reid-Henry

Sending

2014

Environment and Urbanization

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This paper describes how international humanitarian organizations (IHOs) are adapting their operations to working in the urban environment. When levels of armed violence in urban areas are sufficient to trigger international humanitarian law, organizations such as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) may argue that they have an important contribution to make by offering a set of skills and experience gleaned in conflict and non-governed settings. This paper reflects on this humanitarian turn to the city and uses it to problematize certain assumptions within the existing understanding of "urban violence" and the nature of humanitarianism itself. What does it mean to "humanitarianize" urban violence? What is the value-added that humanitarians might bring? And in what ways might such engagements be changing the nature of the problem itself? Drawing upon a wide range of literature that sets the local structures of violence in light of wider national and international processes, we analyze the "humanitarianization" of urban violence as a cross-scalar governmental assemblage that is likely to play an increasingly important role in cities in the global South in the future.

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Urban Violence Is Not (Necessarily) a Way of Life: Towards a Political Economy of Conflict in Cities

Cited by 14 publications

References 34 publications

Slum Wars of the 21st Century: Gangs, Mano Dura and the New Urban Geography of Conflict in Central America

Slum Wars of the 21st Century: Gangs, Mano Dura and the New Urban Geography of Conflict in Central America

Mixed Narrative Discourses: Analysing the South African Government’s Response to Xenophobia in 2015

The “humanitarianization” of urban violence

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