A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Examining Power and Inequality through Informality in Urban Africa (2022)

Stark, L., & Teppo, A. (2022). Examining Power and Inequality through Informality in Urban Africa. In L. Stark, & A. B. Teppo (Eds.), Power and Informality in Urban Africa Ethnographic Perspectives (pp. 1-20). Zed Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350237599.ch-1

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Stark, Laura; Teppo, Annika

Parent publication: Power and Informality in Urban Africa Ethnographic Perspectives

Parent publication editors: Stark, Laura; Teppo, Annika Björnsdotter

ISBN: 978-1-7869-9345-8

eISBN: 978-1-7869-9346-5

Publication year: 2022

Pages range: 1-20

Number of pages in the book: 264

Publisher: Zed Books

Place of Publication: London

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350237599.ch-1

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/83955

Abstract

As increasing numbers of Africans live in cities, their strategies for living and surviving challenge prevailing theories and models of urban development. Scholars of poverty and development have given more attention to rural areas than to urban ones, yet urban lifeways need more study because people’s material lives in the city differ significantly from those in rural areas. Urban residents are exposed to more ethnic, religious, and socio-economic diversity than rural residents (Jha et al. 2005) . Urban areas are also highly monetized, and the lives of especially the poorest residents are determined almost entirely by market forces. Money thus becomes the focus of city dwellers’ attention: the means by which relationships are negotiated, the measure of success, and a necessary condition for well-being. This volume defines ‘urban’ as residential aggregations in which the majority of residents work in non-agricultural activities, which generally means they are...

Keywords: towns and cities; urbanisation; urban population; inequality; power (societal objects); exercise of power; socioeconomic status; socioeconomic factors; poverty; anthropology; ethnography; urban sociology

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

Preliminary JUFO rating: 2