Urban Revolt edited by Trevor Ngwane, Luke Sinwell

ISBN: 9781776141708

Publisher: Wits University Press, 1st  May 2017

Paperback, 218 pages

Drawing on case studies from across the global South, this collection analyses the conditions in which the majority of the world exists and struggles in the contemporary urban context. It looks at how Urban Social Movements have challenged or transformed how the city is organized and created possibilities for a revolutionary alternative.

The urban poor and working class now make up the majority of the world’s population, which is expected to expand to 10 billion by mid-century. Much of the growth results from the displacement of rural peasants to the urban cores, resulting in the vast expansion of megacities with populations of up to 20 million people in the global South. The proliferation of informal settlements and slums has resulted in urban areas becoming the principal sites of social upheaval as people seek to improve their living conditions. Drawing on case studies from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, the various chapters in this book map and analyze the conditions in which the majority of the world exists and struggles in the contemporary urban context. Advancing beyond a liberal perspective, the book unpacks the ways in which Urban Social Movements in the global South have challenged or transformed how the city is organized and created possibilities for a revolutionary alternative to the capitalist hegemonic framework.