Contemporary urbanization in the Global South merits greater attention from scholars of comparative politics. Governance, associational life, and political behavior take distinctive forms in the social and institutional environments created by rapid urbanization, particularly within informal settlements and labor markets. In this special issue, we examine forms of collective action and claims-making in these spaces. We also consider how the state assesses, maps, and responds to the demands of informal sector actors. Tackling questions of citizen and state behavior in these informal urban contexts requires innovative research strategies due to data scarcity and social and institutional complexity. Contributors to this symposium offer novel strategies for addressing these challenges, including the use of informal archives, worksite-based sampling, ethnographic survey design, enforcement process-tracing, and crowd-sourced data.

中文翻译：

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全球南方城市的国家、社会和非正规性

全球南方的当代城市化值得比较政治学者给予更多关注。在快速城市化所创造的社会和制度环境中，特别是在非正式住区和劳动力市场中，治理、结社生活和政治行为采取了独特的形式。在本期特刊中，我们研究了这些空间中集体行动和主张的形式。我们还考虑了国家如何评估、绘制和响应非正规部门参与者的需求。由于数据稀缺以及社会和制度的复杂性，在这些非正式的城市环境中解决公民和国家行为的问题需要创新的研究策略。本次研讨会的参与者提供了应对这些挑战的新策略，包括使用非正式档案、基于工作场所的抽样、