‘One of the most exciting and provocative books that I’ve read in a long time’ – Mike Davis, author of Planet of the Slums
Can people who live in shantytowns, shacks and favelas teach us anything about democracy? About how to govern society in a way that is inclusive, participatory and addresses popular needs? This book argues that they can.
In a study conducted in dozens of South Africa’s shack settlements, where more than 9 million people live, Trevor Ngwane finds thriving shack dwellers’ committees that govern local life, are responsive to popular needs and provide a voice for the community. These committees, called ‘amakomiti’ in the Zulu language, organise the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, public works and crime prevention especially during settlement establishment.
Amakomiti argues that, contrary to common perception, slum dwellers are in fact an essential part of the urban population, whose political agency must be recognised and respected. In a world searching for democratic alternatives that serve the many and not the few, it is to the shantytowns, rather than the seats of political power, that we should turn.
Cuprins
List of Figures and Tables
List of Photos
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Series Preface
Preface
1. Introduction: Disrupting Private Land Ownership?
2. ‘The People Cannot Live in the Air’: History of the Squatter Movement in South Africa
3. Amakomiti are Everywhere
4. Fatal Embrace by the ANC in Duncan Village
5. Iinkundla of Nkaneng: The Rural in the Urban Dialectic
6. Thembelihle Settlement: A Vision of Hope
7. Amakomiti: A Vision of Alternatives
Postscript: Covid-19 and the Shacks
Appendix 1: List of Case Study Interviews
Appendix 2: List of Research Tour Interviews and Places Visited
Notes
Index
Despre autor
Trevor Ngwane is a scholar activist who spent twenty years as a full-time organiser in South African trade unions, community organisations and social movements before and after the defeat of apartheid. He later obtained his Ph D in Sociology at the University of Johannesburg where he now teaches and conducts research.
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