Political Roles and Practices among 'the Poor' in Democratic South Africa

FAIN: FT-61331-13

Kerry Ryan Chance
President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)

My project asks the following question: What political life is possible for the worlds' most disenfranchised groups in emergent liberal orders? My research examines how 'the poor,' living on the margins of the city, often without formalized housing or basic services, inhabit political roles and practices politics in democratic South Africa. My project draws from, and contributes to three primary literatures in the humanities: 1) theories of democracy; 2) research on global slums; 3) studies of popular politics.