The limits of collective resistance to urban renewal: the governance of urban displacements in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper provides a comparative analysis of the strategies of resistance articulated by residents of an informal settlement and street traders in Lagos, Nigeria in response to urban displacements. Recent academic scholarship on the politics of urban governance in the global South has increasingly focused on the contestations that underlie urban change, especially relating to the political agency of informal actors to resist unfavorable outcomes. A common view is that local political systems can significantly determine the extent to which informal actors undertake collective action to contest their structural marginalization. Drawing on research in Lagos, this paper analyses the impact of local political dynamics on the response of disadvantaged urban residents to displacements, with a focus on their collective strategies of resistance. The study demonstrates how political context shapes and constrains the agency of informal actors. Particularly, the case of Lagos reveals how and to what extent a complex political environment and the politicization of the urban landscape curtail the collective resistance of low-income residents. The paper argues that the independence of collectives of the urban poor from state influence, as well as the defense of this autonomy is vital to countering anti-poor state practices.

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