ABSTRACT

Due to a lack of available job opportunities in the formal sector and financial resources, in most parts of the developing world the urban poor rely on access to urban public space for earning their livelihoods. The existing literature shows that the urban poor are often evicted without relocation from public spaces by city governments in promoting a “global city” image. Within this context, this article explores how city authorities deny a right to the city for the urban poor. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, this occurs through a comprehensive and orchestrated programme to deny the poor their rights as citizens of the city, to exploit and extort them, to manipulate the political system and to stigmatise them. Focussing on poor people’s involvement in informal street vending in a case study of a slum in Dhaka, this article argues that Bangladesh’s particular form of oppressive political culture, particularly its authoritarian party system, does not provide poor citizens with even the voice required to negotiate a right to the city. The article identifies particular forms of everyday governance that lead to a complete stripping of effective political power.

摘要

由于正规部门缺乏可用的就业机会和财政资源，在发展中世界的大部分地区，城市贫民依靠进入城市公共空间谋生。现有文献表明，城市政府为了宣传“全球城市”形象，经常在没有搬离公共空间的情况下驱逐城市贫民。在此背景下，本文探讨了城市当局如何剥夺城市贫民对城市的权利。在孟加拉国的达卡，这是通过一项全面而精心策划的计划来实现的，该计划剥夺了穷人作为城市公民的权利，剥削和勒索他们，操纵政治制度并污名化他们。以达卡贫民窟的案例研究为重点，关注穷人参与非正式街头贩卖的情况，本文认为，孟加拉国特殊形式的压迫性政治文化，尤其是其威权政党制度，甚至没有为贫困公民提供谈判城市权利所需的话语权。本文确定了导致完全剥夺有效政治权力的日常治理的特定形式。