Eating cities, the politics of everyday life in Kampala, Uganda

grantor: University of TorontoThe central argument of this thesis is that while the approach to the study of both politics of stabilization and adjustment and the Third World has added significantly to our understanding of the nature of political systems and political cultures, it remains incomplete because the focus of most of the studies is not on the micro-level, or the level at which ordinary people struggle for survival and economic benefit. As a result, an important element in our understanding of the politics of adjustment remains obscure: the politics of everyday life. I would argue that the failure of urban adjustment in Kampala is a direct result of the vitality of the politics of everyday life and the failure of institutional reform measures adequately to address the logic of this form of politics. The politics of everyday life confronts top-down attempts at institutional reform, undermines them, and incorporates them in a fashion which conforms to its own imperatives. I explore these issues by looking at the case of market vendors in Kampala, Uganda as they struggle to improve the physical and administrative conditions within their market. The canvas upon which these struggles over space and services emerge include increasing urban poverty and insecurity in Kampala, intergovernmental jurisdictional squabbles between the Kampala City Council and the central government, and the World Bank sponsored Uganda First Urban Project. These everyday political struggles show how the urban poor undermine and resist attempts to impose restrictive regulatory frameworks upon those who cannot afford them.Ph.D