AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	16. New ways of managing public administrations in Africa ?
Paper ID	513
Author(s)	Lourenço-Lindell, Ilda ; Appelblad, Jenny
Paper	No paper submitted
Abstract	Contemporary models of urban governance posit the involvement of a variety of actors beyond the state. These models are inducing changes in the ways in which African cities are being governed, which have potentially important consequences for local politics. The paper addresses two sets of interrelated consequences. Firstly, given the contemporary fragmentation of centres of power, where the state is but one of them, the paper presents an empirical analysis of the nature of the relations between them. Rather than assuming a harmonious division of labour or ‘partnership’ between state, market and civil society – a notion that is widespread in contemporary hegemonic discourses on governance -, the paper shows an example of fierce competition and conflict between several actors. Secondly, changes in practices of urban governance may also affect the ways and possibilities for interest representation by popular groups, in a context where civil society groups may be drawn into competing with other actors, in the pursuit of their own ‘survival’. The paper discusses these issues with empirical reference to changes in the management of marketplaces in Kampala, Uganda. Formerly the official responsibility of the local government, the management of marketplaces has been privatised since the mid-1990s. The local government continues to play an active role, of which the recent clashes between vendors and agents of the local authorities are evidence. However a new constellation of actors has emerged. Private enterprises and cooperatives, alongside pre-existing vendors’ associations, are today competing for management contracts as well as for authority in the markets. Theses changes have given rise to new relations as well as new kinds of conflicts. In some markets, vendors’ associations are being violently fought by private firms. Vendors are also contesting the management practices of private enterprises holding management contracts. In markets run by cooperative societies, there are conflicts arising in connection to the restrictive membership principles of the cooperatives. Vendor associations in the different markets have responded to these changes in various ways, but are generally loosing ground to cooperatives and private enterprises operating today in the markets. This seems to be affecting negatively vendors’ possibilities for exercising collective influence, as the new actors are not inclusive or representative of the interests of the majority of vendors. A new initiative is however emerging that might counter this trend in the future: the newly formed National Union of Informal Economy Workers Organisations, linked to one of the national trade union confederations, is bringing together vendors and their associations in the various marketplaces. The empirical material is based on interviews with vendors in four marketplaces, including representatives of their associations, as well as other relevant actors in those markets. Interviews were also conducted with leading persons in the National Union of Informal Economy, among other citywide or national organisations of relevance.

The New Politics of Urban Governance: Privatisation of Market Management and Impacts on Collective Organising in Kampala, Uganda