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Frontiers of urban control: lawlessness on the city edge and forms of clientalist statecraft in Zimbabwe
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 18:57 authored by JoAnn McGregorJoAnn McGregor, Kudzai ChatizaThis article develops the concept of ‘urban frontier’ to explore conflicts over state regularization of city edge informal settlements in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. It conceptualises the presence of ‘lawless’ urban frontiers and ‘illegal’ territorial authorities in capital cities as expressions of a permissive form of central statecraft. In so doing, the article takes forward debates over the politics shaping the margins of Africa’s rapidly expanding cities, redressing scholars’ tendency to neglect central party-state strategic calculations and party politics in their analyses of unregulated settlements. Dominant interpretations generally hinge on state absence or weakness and emphasise localised influences. The case of Harare’s highly politicized city-edge informal settlements reveals the inadequacy of apolitical approaches particularly clearly, as all were controlled by the ruling ZANUPF party. The conflicts provoked by regularization provide a lens on disputes within the ruling party, which we interpret as disputes over different forms of clientalist statecraft. Analyses of urban frontiers can thus help move away from generic one-size-fits-all explanations of informality and patronage politics in Africa’s expanding cities.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
AntipodeISSN
0066-4812Publisher
WileyExternal DOI
Issue
5Volume
51Page range
1554-1580Department affiliated with
- Geography Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-09-24First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-09-04First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-09-05Usage metrics
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