Mitlin Diana, Mogaladi Jan
University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Prog Plann. 2013 Aug;84:1-39. doi: 10.1016/j.progress.2012.12.001.
The needs of informal settlement dwellers across towns and cities in the global South are acute. While much emphasis has been placed on income poverty, for urban dwellers affordable access to improved secured accommodation and basic services such as water and sanitation is essential for well-being. In part due to the lack of such access, urban citizens organize in multiple ways to address these needs and to press for state investment and redistribution. South Africa, despite relatively high levels of income and a state with redistributive capacity, is no exception. Indeed, this country is particularly interesting for those seeking to understand effective approaches to addressing housing need because of the efforts that have been made and the resultant scale of state investment in the housing sector. This paper draws on the experiences of urban social movement organizations in South Africa to understand better how shelter needs can be addressed. We reflect on their goals, strategies and activities and explore what this means for themes discussed within the social movement literature. The research has a specific focus on the city of eThekwini/Durban primarily because of the scale of social movement activities there. The paper describes the core concerns with respect to shelter as elaborated by social movement activists, staff of other civil society agencies and officials. While there is a broad consensus about the shelter problems, there is less agreement about solutions. The discussion summarises the shelter objectives and core strategies used by the social movement activists, and considers the success they have had. This includes reviewing their understanding of what success is and how success is achieved. Movement organisations have been able to secure access to the housing subsidy scheme for their members. However, their progress has been limited. The paper concludes that there is a primary focus on what is offered through state programmes and policies despite evident shortcomings. While there is an awareness of the misfit between available programmes, the needs of movement members and more general shelter needs, no fundamental challenge is being made to the dominant approach. A second finding is that while movement members and leaders have an explicit focus on material improvements, underlying their motivations and some of their strategies and actions is the more fundamental goal to be treated as equal citizens. In this dimension, movement organizations seek both recognition of their citizenship as well as the redistribution of state resources. Third, we argue that while social movement progress is related to the political opportunity structures, it also depends on the ability of movement organizations to manage the emerging opportunities, particularly their relationships with the state, professional support organizations and other movement organizations. Relations shift between contention and collaboration to improve negotiating positions, secure access to shelter and achieve greater political inclusion.
全球南方城镇非正规住区居民的需求十分迫切。尽管人们十分关注收入贫困问题，但对于城市居民而言，能够负担得起改善后的安全住房以及获得水和卫生设施等基本服务，对于他们的福祉至关重要。部分由于缺乏此类服务，城市居民通过多种方式组织起来，以满足这些需求，并敦促国家进行投资和重新分配。南非尽管收入水平相对较高，且国家具备重新分配的能力，但也不例外。事实上，由于该国在住房领域所做的努力以及由此产生的国家投资规模，对于那些试图了解解决住房需求有效方法的人来说，这个国家特别值得关注。本文借鉴南非城市社会运动组织的经验，以更好地理解如何满足住房需求。我们思考了它们的目标、策略和活动，并探讨这对于社会运动文献中所讨论的主题意味着什么。这项研究特别关注伊泰夸尼/德班市，主要是因为那里社会运动活动的规模。本文描述了社会运动积极分子、其他民间社会机构工作人员和官员所阐述的关于住房的核心关切。虽然对于住房问题存在广泛共识，但对于解决方案的共识较少。讨论总结了社会运动积极分子所使用的住房目标和核心策略，并考虑了他们所取得的成功。这包括审视他们对成功的理解以及如何实现成功。运动组织已经能够为其成员争取到住房补贴计划。然而，他们的进展有限。本文的结论是，尽管存在明显缺陷，但主要关注的仍是国家计划和政策所提供的内容。虽然人们意识到现有计划、运动成员的需求与更普遍的住房需求之间存在不匹配，但并没有对主导方法提出根本性挑战。第二个发现是，虽然运动成员和领导人明确关注物质改善，但在他们的动机以及一些策略和行动背后，是被视为平等公民这一更基本的目标。在这方面，运动组织既寻求对其公民身份的认可，也寻求国家资源的重新分配。第三，我们认为，虽然社会运动的进展与政治机会结构有关，但它也取决于运动组织管理新出现机会的能力，特别是它们与国家、专业支持组织和其他运动组织的关系。关系在抗争与合作之间转变，以改善谈判地位、获得住房并实现更大程度的政治包容。
