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Building Local Governance: Participation and Elite Capture in Slum-upgrading in Kenya

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  • Andrea Rigon

Abstract

type="main"> Community and democratic participation are still an essential component of current mainstream development interventions. However, elite capture seriously undermines the outcomes of development projects. This article analyses the effects on (in)equality of the implementation of policies that are technically participatory, in the context of an internationally-funded urban development programme in Nairobi, which was implemented in the aftermath of the post-election violence of 2007–2008. Ethnographic data reveal how the institutionalization of pre-existing power imbalances between landlords and tenants is accomplished through the creation of structures of community governance and ‘participatory enumeration’. The article concludes that without the resources to challenge powerful interests within the settlement, the programme is likely to worsen the condition of a large section of the residents. In the context of strong pre-existing inequalities and conflict, participation needs careful management and firm external agency to achieve genuine social transformation.

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  • Andrea Rigon, 2014. "Building Local Governance: Participation and Elite Capture in Slum-upgrading in Kenya," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(2), pages 257-283, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:45:y:2014:i:2:p:257-283
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    2. Comola, Margherita & Inguaggiato, Carla & Mendola, Mariapia, 2021. "Learning about Farming: Innovation and Social Networks in a Resettled Community in Brazil," IZA Discussion Papers 14092, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pauline C Cherunya & Bernhard Truffer & Edinah Moraa Samuel & Christoph Lüthi, 2021. "The challenges of livelihoods reconstruction in the context of informal settlement upgrading," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(1), pages 168-190, February.
    4. Comola, Margherita & Inguaggiato, Carla & Mendola, Mariapia, 2024. "Social networks and economic transformation: Evidence from a resettled village in Brazil," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 17-34.
    5. John‐Michael Davis & Yaakov Garb, 2019. "Participatory shaping of community futures in e‐waste processing hubs: Complexity, conflict and stewarded convergence in a Palestinian context," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 67-89, January.
    6. Erfani, Goran & Roe, Maggie, 2020. "Institutional stakeholder participation in urban redevelopment in Tehran: An evaluation of decisions and actions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. McGranahan, Gordon, 2015. "Realizing the Right to Sanitation in Deprived Urban Communities: Meeting the Challenges of Collective Action, Coproduction, Affordability, and Housing Tenure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 242-253.
    8. Aidan Craney, 2020. "Local Participation or Elite Capture in Sheep’s Clothing? A Conundrum of Locally Led Development," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 191-200.
    9. Andrea Rigon, 2016. "Collective or individual titles? Conflict over tenure regularisation in a Kenyan informal settlement," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(13), pages 2758-2778, October.
    10. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Calzada, Joan & Jordana, Jacint, 2017. "How to achieve full electrification: Lessons from Latin America," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 55-69.
    11. Louise Mubanda Rasmussen, 2017. "In the Name of Sustainability: Contradictory Effects of NGO-Driven Development in Malawi," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 312-327, April.
    12. Isabella Aboderin & Megumi Kano & Hilda Akinyi Owii, 2017. "Toward “Age-Friendly Slums”? Health Challenges of Older Slum Dwellers in Nairobi and the Applicability of the Age-Friendly City Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, October.
    13. Jason Corburn & Alice Sverdlik, 2017. "Slum Upgrading and Health Equity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, March.
    14. Constance Smith, 2017. "‘Our Changes’? Visions of the Future in Nairobi," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(1), pages 31-40.

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