asef bayat: un-civil society: the politics of the 'informal people

7/30/2019 Asef Bayat: Un-civil society: the politics of the 'informal people'

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Third World Quarterly, Vol 18, No I, pp 53-72, 1997

Un-c iv i l society: the politics of the' informal people'

C A R F A X

ASEF B A Y A TIntroduction

In th e years betw een 1976 and the ear ly 1990s a series of popular act iv i t ies tookplace in Iran 's large ci ties which did not receive suff ic ient attention f romscholars pr im ar i ly because they were drow ned ou t by the extr aord inar y big bangof the Revo lu t ion . ' The i r impor tance w as dismissed in par t because they seemedi n s ign i f i can t w hen compared w i th the Revo lu t ion , tha t un iv e rsa l ima ge o f soc ia lchange par excellence, and in part because they seemed to be ord ina ry p rac t i cesof everyday l i f e . Indeed , th e origin of these activi ties goes back decades ear l ier ,bu t it is only in the late 1980s and ear ly 1990s that thei r pol i t ical consequencesbegan to surface.Since th e 1950s h u n d r e d s of t h o u s a n d s of poor f am i l i es hav e been par t of along and steady migrat ion f rom I ran 's v i l lages and smal l t o w n s to its big cities,some seeking to improve thei r l ives , some s i mp l y t ry ing t o s u rv i v e . M an y o fthem sett led quiet ly , i n d i v i d u a l l y or more often w i t h the i r k in members , onunuse d urban lands or /and cheap purchased plots largely on the m a r g i n of u r b a ncentres. To escape f rom deal ing wi th pr ivate landlords , unaf fo rdab le rent andovercrowding, they put up their shelters in i l l ega l ly es tabl ished s i tes w i t h thei row n h a n d s or w i t h th e help of re lat iv es . Then they began to consol idate thei ri n f o rm a l s e t t l emen t s b y b r i b i n g b u r e a u c r a ts a nd b r i n g i n g in u rban amen i t i e s . Bythe eve of the I s l ami c Rev o l u t i o n th e n u m b e r of these communi t i es in Tehranalone had reached 50. The actors had become a coun te r fo rce , w i thou t i n ten d in gto be so.The ad ven t o f the I s l am ic R ev o lu t ion o f fe red the d i senf ra nch i sed a f reer handto make fur the r advances . At the t im e when the revo lu t iona r i es were m ar ch in gin th e streets of big cities, th e very poor were busy extend ing the i r ho ld overt h ei r co m m un i t i e s by b r i n g i n g mo re u r b an l an d un d e r (m a l - ) d ev e lo pmen t .L ikew ise in the im m edia te pos t - revo lu t ionary pe r iod , m any poor f a m i l i e s tooka d v a n t a g e of the collapse of police control to t ake over hundreds of v acan thomes and ha l f - f in i shed apa r tmen t b l o cks , r e fu rb i sh ing them as thei r ownproper t ies .As the option of home-squa t t i ng w as l imi ted , l and take-over and illegalcons t ruc t ion accelerated , despi te the po l i ce c rackdown. Th i s con t r i bu ted to aspectacular growth of both large and sma l l c i t i e s in the years fo l lowing therevo lu t ion . What made these men a nd w o m e n a collective force was a way ofA\i-/ lt(i\al is ill Ihi' A/ni' ni m i llnivcr\il\ in (dnti, II ( A'in; cl Ann \ireet. I'O H in 2 5 / / , ('turn I I ' l l I, l:x\-/>l;emai l nlxnaK" in s 1 1 1 4 1 i-uu .eg > .OI43-6597 /97 / (WX)53-20 $7. (X) 0 1997 Third Wor ld Q u a r t e r l y 53


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l ife w hich engendered com m on interests and the need to defend them. Thesquatters g ot together a nd demanded e lec t r i c i ty a nd runn ing w a t e r ; w hen t heywere refused or encountered delays, they resorted to do- i t -yourse l f mechanismso f a cq u i r i n g t hem i l lega l ly . They establ ished roads , opened c l i n i c s a nd stores,constructed m osques and l ibra r ies , and org anised refuse col lec t ion. They fu r therset up associa t ions an d c o m m u n i t y ne t w ork s , an d part ic ipated in loca l consumercooperatives. A new and a more autonomous way of l iving , funct ioning andorganis ing the c o m m u n i t y was in the m a k i n g .Silent enc roa chmen t of a s im i l a r type inc luded th e d o m a i n of w ork . Theunemployed poor, alongside middle-class jobless, resorted in i t i a l ly to an im-pressive collective action to demand work , ma in tenance and compensation. Theywere invo lved in a movemen t q u i t e u n i q u e in the contex t of Thi rd W or l dpol it ic s . Al thou gh the un em ployed m ovem ent b rought some resu l ts to a nu m berof factory and office w orke r s , a l a rge ma jor i ty rema ined job less . Havingexhausted collective action, th e unemployed poor turned to f a m i l y , k in andfr iends for support . B u t many more poured into th e streets of big cities toestab l ish au tonom ous sub s i s tence ac t iv i t i es , enga g ing in st reet -vending, ped-d l i n g , street services an d ind ust r ies . They put up s ta l ls , drove pushca rts , set upkiosks. Business sites were lit by connec t ing wi res to the main elect r ica l poles.Their co l lect iv e opera t ion conv erted the st reet s idew alk s into vib ra nt andcolorfu l shop ping places . H ow ever , the author i t ies could h ard ly tolera te such acheerful and secular counter-cul ture, such an act ive use of urban space, a nd t hu swaged a protracted war of at t r i t ion aga inst th e street vend ors . M an y shopkeepersw hose oppo r t un i t y costs a nd f a vou r a b l e bu s i nes s env i ronm en t ha d been a ppro-pr ia ted by the pav em ent vendors jo ined the au thor i t i es in the i r c l am pd ow n.Confrontation between th e vendors and the state/shopkeepers exempl i f i es aprot racted instance of street polit ics in the I s l a m i c R e p u b l i c , to w h i c h I sha l lre turn in more detail later.The k i n d s of practices described above are not ex t raord in a ry . They occurin ma ny u rb a n centres of the developing world on a daily basis. In the Midd l eEast , Cai ro conta ins wel l over 1 00 ' s pon t a neous ' commun i t i e s , or manatiqal-ashwa'yya, hou s ing over seven m i l l ion people w ho have sub div ided ag r i cu l -t u ra l l a n d s , pu t t i n g u p thei r shel ters u n l a w f u l l y . The r u r a l m ig r a n t s a n d s l u mdwel lers , on the other hand, have quietly claimed cemeteries, roof tops and thes tate /publ ic land on the outski r ts of the c i ty , c rea t ing la rgely autonomouscommun i t i e s . 2 By their sheer perseverance, mi l l i o n s of s lum dwel lers force theautho r i t i es to extend l ivin g am eni t ies to thei r neigh bou rhood s by otherwiset a p p ing t hem i l l ega l ly .3 For ins tance, i l lega l use of r u n n i n g water a lone in theEgypt i an ci ty of Alex an dr i a costs an average US$3 mil l ion each year .4 The streetvendors have t aken over m an y pub l i c thoroughfa res to conduc t the i r bu s iness .Thousands of Egyptian poor subsis t on t ips from pa rk ing pr iva te cars in thestreets, which they control and organise in such a way as to c r e a t e m a x i m u mpa rk i n g space. This, in the au thor i t i es ' eyes, has caused ma jor u rban 'disorder'i n the count ry . The gove rnmen t po l i cy of ha l t i ng such practices has l a r g e l yfailed,

5as the poor have tended to respond by on-the-spot resistance, legal battlesor s imply by qu ie t non-compl i ance . Accounts from Ma ida n E l - ' A t a ba , Sa yyedaZeynab , Bou l a q E l -Da k rou r , Su q E l - G o m ' a in I m b a b a , and the forceful relo-

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cation of El-Ezbakia booksellers attest to only a few instances of street politicsin this city.hThe same sort of phe nom enon occurs in the Asian set t ing . In South K oreancities, fo r example, a lmost anyone can easily set up a pushcart on a vacant streetarea, 'butonce a spot is t aken and bu s iness es tab l i shed , it is v i r t ua l ly ow ned bythe vendors ' . I n these sett ings, 'tax collections a re nil,and regu la t ing bus inesspract ices is a lmost impossible. Louis Vui t ton 's Pusan Out let could only stop apushca r t vendor from se l l ing counter fe i t s of its bags in front of the shop bypurchasing th e spot. Nike In te rna t iona l and Ralph Lauren have had s imi l a rp rob l ems ' . 7L a t i n Amer ican cases a re wel l documen t ed . 8 In the Chi lean c i ty of Sant iagod u r i n g th e mid-1980s , fo r example, as m a n y as 200 000 poor famil ies were using' c l andes t ine i ns t a l l a t ions ' of electricity and r u n n i n g w a t e r in the mid 1980s.Police and m il i ta ry vehic les drove throug h popu lar neighbou rhoods to ca tch theoffenders . I n response th e res idents had to ' u nhook a t d a w n an d hook u p aga inafter the last patrol ' , as one sett ler put it .9 Of those who had lega l ins ta l la t ions ,some 200000 had not paid for electricity and 270000 for water bil ls.1 0'Bas i smo ' is the term which s ignif ies th e recent upsurge of such grassrootsact ivi t ies in La t in A m e r i c a w i t h the i r emphas i s on c o m m u n i t y and localdemocracy, and distrust of fo rma l and large-scale bureaucracy." I n a s imi l a rvein , in South Africa over 20% of the u rb a n popu l a t i on l ive in shacks andshanty- towns . M a n y poor f ami l i es have refused to pay for urban services.Masakhane, or the ' cu l tu re-of -pay ing ' campa ign organised by the governmentand b u s in e ss c o m m u n i t y after the first mul t i r a c i a l election in 1994,represents anat tempt to recover these massive publ ic appropria t ions by the poor.1 2Far f rom b eing des t ruc t ive beh aviou r by the ' l um pen pro le t a r i a t' o r ' danger -ous classes ' ,1 3 these practices represent n a t u r a l a nd logica l ways in w h i c h th edisenfranchised survive hardships and improve their l ives. What is s ignif icantabo u t these ac t iv i t ies , an d thus interests u s here, is precisely thei r seeminglym u n d a n e , o rd ina ry a nd d a i l y n a t u r e . How can one account for such da i lypractices? What va lues can one attach to such exercises? H o w d o w e expla in th epoli tics of these everyday l ives?Precisely because of this la rgely s i lent and f ree- fo rm mobi l i sa t ion , th e c u r r e n tfocus on the not ion of ' c ivi l society' tends to belittle or totally ignore th e vasta r rays of often un ins t i t u t iona l i s ed a nd hybrid socia l act iv i t ies w h i c h h a v edominated urban pol i t ics in m an y developin g coun tries. Clearly, there is morethan one s ing le conceptua l i sa t ion of ' c i v i l society ' . Exis t in g l i t e ra tu r e revea ls thet r emen d o us d ivers i ty of percept ions not only between the classical and contem-porary variants, b u t also w i t h in th e latter. Yet all seem to agree tha t associationall ife const i tu tes an i n teg ra l e lement of ' c iv i l society' , and that th e lat ter isessential ly privileged over other forms of social expression. 1 4 W i t h o u t i n t e n d i n gto downgrade th e va lue of ' c ivi l i ty ' , m y point is tha t th e reduct ionism of thedebates on ' c i v i l society' excludes and even scorns modes of struggles andexpression which, in some societies l ike those in the Middle East , are moreextens ive a nd effective t ha n conven t i ona l ins t i tu t ions outs ide the state.

My a im in th is ar t ic le is to e x a m i n e the d y n a m i c s of th is f ree-form a c t i v i s m ,which tends to characterise th e polit ics of the ' i n fo rma l people', th e disenfran-55


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chised. Adopting a relative distance from both J am es Scott and his critiques, Iw a n t to show how these ordinary and often quie t p ract ices by the ordinary andoften si lent people engender s ign i f i c an t soc ia l changes .Current debates

At first glance , th e ord ina r y p r ac tices 1 have descr ibed above conjure up J a m e sScott ' s ' eve ryday fo rms of peasant res is tance ' . Scott , Colburn and others havehighlighted the abi l i ty of poor people to resist 'oppressors' by such act ions asfoo tdr agg ing , d i s s i m u l a t i o n , fa lse compliance , s lander , a rson, sabotage and soforth. Peasants a re said to act p r e d o m i n a n t l y i n d i v i d u a l l y and discre te ly , bu tgiven repressive political conditions, this adopted strategy answ ers their needs.15The ' eve ryday fo rms of r es is tance ' pe r spec t ive has u nd oub ted ly con t r ibu ted torecovering th e Thi rd Wor ld poor f rom 'pass iv i ty ' , ' f a t a l i sm ' and 'hopeless-ness 'essentia l i s t fea tu res of the ' c u l t u r e of pover ty ' wi t h its e m p h a s i s onident i fying t he ' m a r g i n a l m a n ' a s a ' c u l t u r a l type ' . 1 6 Scott even transcends the'survival strategies' model, w hich l im its act ivi t ies of the poor to mere su rv iva lwi th in the da i ly context of ten a t the cost of others or themse lves .1 7 As Escobarsuggests, th e l a ngua ge of ' surviva l s t ra tegies ' m ay cont r ibu te to m a i n t a i n i n g th eimage of the poor as v ic t ims .1 8 Thus, to counter unemployment or priceincreases , they are often said to resort to theft , begging, prostitution or thereor ienta t ion of the ir consumption pat te rns .

Scott's w o r k is a lso impor tan t from a dif feren t ang le . U n t i l r ecent ly th eprevai l ing concern of scholars , from both th e l e f t and right , focused on thepoor's 'political threat ' to the existing order; they were preoccupied w i t h th equest ion of w hether the poor con st i tu ted a des t ab i l i s i ng force,1 9 t hu s i g no r ing t hed y n a m i c s of the i r m ic ro-ex is tence and eve ryday po l i ti cs . On the o the r ha nd ,m a n y of these authors s t i l l view th e politics of the poor in terms of arevo lu t iona ry /pass ive d icho tomy . 2 0 Such a p a r a d i g m s u r e ly l i m i t s the possib i l i tyof look ing upon th e matter in a di fferent l i g h t I do not m e a n t a k i n g a centr is tapproach ,21 but an ent i re ly new perspect ive . 'Ever yd ay forms of resis tance 'certa in ly c o n t r i b u t e s to a shift in t e r m s of deba te .2 2Scott's 'Brecht ian m ode of class st ruggle and resistance' is , however , inad-equate to accoun t for the d yn am ics of the ac t ivi t ies of the urb an poor in theTh i r d W or ld . W h i l e it is u n d e n i a b l e tha t conce rns of su rv iva l cons t i tu te the m a i npreoccupations of the urban disenfranchised, they a lso s t r ive to m o v e forwardand im prove the ir l ive s , how ever ca lm ly and qu ie t ly . Their s t ruggles a re notmere ly defensive , a n 'everyday resistance' a g a i n s t th e encroachments of the' superordinate ' groups; nor a re they s im p ly h id den , qu ie t a nd often i n d i v i d u a l i s -t ic . In m y un der stan din g, the st ruggles of the urb an poor a re a lso su r rept i t iou slyoffensive, tha t is , disenfranchised groups place a great deal of rest ra int upon th epr iv i l eges of the d o m i n a n t groups , a l l o c a t i n g se gm e n t s of the i r l i fe chances( i n c l u d i n g cap i ta l , soc ia l goods, o p p o r tu n i t y , a u t o n o m y a n d t h u s power ) tothemselves. This tends to involve them in a collective, open and h igh ly a ud ib l ecampa ign . Moreove r , in a dd i t i on to seeking concessions from th e state , theiri nd iv idua l and qu ie t s t r ugg les , p redominant ly by direct action, also seek steadya n d s ign if ican t changes in the ir ow n l ives , thus go ing beyond 'ma rg ina l ly56


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a f fec t [ ing ] the va r ious fo rm s of explo i t a t ions w hic h peasants conf ront ' . 2 3 On theother hand, Scot t ' s subscr ipt ion to rat ional choice theory overlooks the com-plexi ty of motives behind this type of struggle , where moral elements a re mixedw i t h r a t i ona l c a l cu l a t i ons .C an these un de r t ak ing s then be analysed in t e rms of u rba n 'social move-m en t s 'unde rs tood as organised and terr i tor ia l ly based movements of the ThirdW or l d u rb a n poor w ho st r ive for ' socia l t ransformat ion ' (according toCastells) ,24 ' emanc ipa t ion ' (Schuurman and van Naerssen)25 or an alternative tot he t y r a n ny o f m ode rn i t y (i n F r i edm a nn ' s percept ion 2 6 )? Simi l a r i t i e s seem to beq u i t e st r i k ing : they are both ur ba n, s t rugg l ing for ana logous a im s such ash o u s i n g , c o m m u n i t y b u i l d i n g , co l lec t ive consumpt ion , official recogni t ion ofthe ir ga ins , and so forth. Y et they differ from one another in m a n y respects.First, whereas social movements in general represent a long-lasting and more-or-less st ructured col lect ive act ion a i m ing a t socia l change, the act ivi ties w hich Idescribe here carry strong elements of spontanei ty , i n d i v i d u a l i s m , and inter-grou p com pet i t ion , am ong other fea tures . They place specia l emp hasis , more-over , on act ion over meaning, or, in Cas te l l s t e rms , ' u rban meaning ' .In addi t ion, whi le these ordinary pract ices resemble both th e 'new' and' a rcha ic ' social m o v e m e n t s i n t e rms of possessing vague or non-ex i s ten tleadership, incoherent or diverse ideologies, with a loose or total lack of as t ruc tured o rgan i sa t ionthey nevertheless dif fer s ign i f ican t ly f rom both. The' p r imi t ive ' soc ia l movements explored b y Eric Hobsbawm were often ' gener-ated' or 'mobi l i sed ' by distinct charismatic leaders,27 whereas th e type ofact ivism I describe a re mos t ly , but not ent i re ly , se l f -genera t ing . On the otherh a n d , w h i l e the 'n ew ' socia l m ov em en ts a re sa id to focus la rg ely on ident i ty andm e a n i n g , 2 8 our contenders seem to concern themselves p r im a r i l y wi th ac t ion .Therefore, in a metaphor ica l sense, these everyday encroachments m ay be seenas representing a 'movement in i tself ' , becoming a social movemen t per se onlyif and when the actors become consc iou s of the i r do ings by a r t i cu la t ing the i ra ims , methods a nd j u s t i f i c a t ions . However , shou ld they come to assume th i sfea tu re , they lose thei r quiet encroachm ent char acter . In other words , thesedespera te everyday pract ices exh ib i t d i s tinc t und e r t a k i ng s w i t h t he i r ow n pa r t i cu -la r logic and dyna mic s .

The quiet encroachment of the ordinaryThe type of st ruggles I descr ibe here m ay best be character ised as the 'qu ie tencroachment of the ord ina ry 'a silent, patient, protracted, and pervasivea d v a n c e m e n t of or di na ry people on the propert ied and p ow erfu l in order tos u rv i v e h a r d s h i p s a nd better their l ives. They a re ma rked by qu iet , a tom ised a ndpro longed m ob i l i sa t ion w i th epi sodic co l lec t ive ac t ionan open a nd fleetings t rugg le w i t h o u t clear leadership, ideology or s t ructured organisa t ion, one whichmakes s ignif icant ga ins for the actors, eventua l ly placing them as a counterpointvis--vis the state. By i n i t i a t i ng gradua l 'molecu la r ' changes , the poor in the longrun ' progressively modify th e pre-ex i s t ing compos i t ion of forces, and hencebecome the matr ix of new changes ' .2 ' 'But u n l i k e Gra msc i ' s ' p a s s i ve r e vo lu t ion [ a r i e s | ' , the disenf ranchised g roups

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carry ou t their activit ies not as conscious polit ical acts; rather they a re d r i ven bythe force of necessi tythe necessity to su rv ive and l ive a dign i f ied life. Thus thenotion of 'necessity ' and a q ues t for d ign i ty j us t i fy their struggles as 'mora l ' ,' na tu ra l ' and ' log ica l ' w ays to su r v ive and advan ce the ir l ives.30 G r a m s c i ' s' passive rev olu t ion ' u l t im ately ta rgets s ta te power . 1 w is h to emphas i se , how-ever, that quiet encroachment, a l though it m igh t indirectly follow generalisedpoli tical impl ica t ions , impl ies changes w h i c h the actors consider s ignif icant inthemselves w i t h o u t i n t en d in g necessari ly to u n d e r m i n e pol i t ica l au thori ty . Y etthese s imple and everyday pract ices a re bound to shift into the rea lm of pol i t ics .The p art ic ipa nts engag e in col lect ive act ion, and see thei r doings and themselvesas 'pol i t ica l ' , only when confronted by those who threa ten thei r ga ins . Henceone key a t t r ibu te of these m ovem ents is tha t , w hi le adv ances a re m ade qu ie t ly ,i n d i v i d u a l l y and g r a dua l l y , the defence of these ga ins is a lw ays co l lec tive andaudible.Thousands of men and w omen emba rk upon l ong and pa in fu l mig ra t o ryjourneys, scattering in remote a nd a l ien envi rons , acqu i r ing work , she l te r , l andand l i v ing am eni ti es. D r iven by the force of 'necessity' (economic hardship, war ,or natural disaster) they set out i n d i v i d u a l l y and w i t h o u t much c l a mou r , o f t ens lowly and un no t icea bly , as persevering as the m ovem ents of tur t les in a remotecolony. They often deliberately avoid collective effort, la rge-sca le opera t ions ,commot ion and pub l i c i ty . At t imes, squat ters , for ins tance, prevent others f romjoining them in specific areas; and vend ors discour age their coun terparts fromsettl ing in the same v ic in i ty . Many even hesi ta te to share informat ion about thei rstrategies wi t h s im i l a r groups. Yet , a s these seem ing ly despera te i n d i v i d u a l s and

fami l ies pursue s im i l a r pa ths, thei r sheer c um ula t ive nu m be rs t r ans form theminto a potential social force. This complex m i x t u r e of i n d i v i d u a l and collectiveact ion resul ts f rom both th e social posit ion of the actors and, to use Tarrow'sterms, th e ' s t ructure of opportuni t ies ' ava i lable for them. 31The m ost comm on ag ents inv o lve d in qu ie t enc roachm ent m ovem ents en-compass a variety of largely ' f loating' social c lus te rsmigran ts , refugees,un em ployed, squat ters , st reet vend ors and other m arg ina l ised groups. R ur a lm i g r a n t s encroach on ci t ies an d thei r ameni t ies , refugees and i n t e rna t i ona lmigran ts on host states an d thei r provis ions , squat ters on pu b l i c and pr iva te l and sor ready-made homes , and street vendors on businesses ' opp ortu ni ty costs , a swel l as on pub l i c space in both it s physical and social facetsstreet pa vemen t s ,intersections , pu bl ic parks and the l ike . What b r ings these g roups i n to th is modeof struggle is, first, the in i t ia l u r g e for an a l t e rna t ive mode of l ife, r equ i r i n g themto change jobs, places and priorities, and, second, th e lack of an ins t i tu t ionalmechan i s m t h rough w h i ch t hey can col lect ively express thei r gr ievances an dreso lve the i r prob lem s .This la t ter point part ia l ly e x p l a i n s why the st ruggles of these subal tern groupsoften take the form of a s i lent repertoire of i n d i v i d u a l direct act ion, ra ther thancollective dema nd-ma k ing protests. U n l i k e groups such as organi/ .ed workers ors tudents , the unemployed, emigrants , refugees , or s t reet vendors a re groups inf lux ; they are the s t ruc tu ra l ly atomised i n d i v i d u a l s who opera te outs ide thefo rma l ins t i tu t ions of factories, schools, an d associations. They th ere for e lac ki n s t i t u t i ona l capaci t ies to exert pressure, s ince they lack an organiza t iona l power58


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of d i s r up t i o n d i s r up t i o n , in the sense of ' t h e w i thd rawa l of cruc ia l con t r ibu t ionon w hic h others dep end ' , and one which is therefore ' a na tur al resource forexer t ing power over others ' .32 They may, of course , pa r t ic ipa te in street demon-s trat ions or r iots , but only when these methods enjoy a reasonable degree oflegitimacy," and when they a re mobilised b y outside leaders. Under exceptionalc i rcumstances , l and take-overs may be led by lef twing groups ; or the u n e m -ployed and street vendors ma y be invi ted to form un ions . Th is happens m a i n l yin re la t ive ly democrat ic periods, when pol i t ical part ies engaged in compet i t ioni nev i t ab ly a t t em p t to m o b i l i s e th e poor in exchange for electoral support . Thisis how the unemployed were organised in post-revolutionary Iran, self-employedw o m e n in B om bay , housew ives in postwar Br i t a in and street vendors in L i m a .34Howeve r , in the absence of electoral f reedoms, th e contenders tend to r e m a i ni n s t i t u t i ona l ly powerless s ince , more often than no t , m ob i l i s a t i on for col lect ived e m a n d m a k i n g is forc ib ly repressed in the developing countr ies where thesestruggles often take place.35 However, this initial lack of ins t i tu t iona l power iscompensated for by the poor's versa t i l i ty in t ak ing ' d i rec t ac t ion ' , be it collectiveor i n d i v i d u a l , prec ip i tous or p iecem ea l , w h ich , in the long ru n , m igh t evolve in toa m ore se l f -r egu l a t i ng / au tonom ous loca l life.Consequent ly , in place of protest or pub l ic i ty , these groups move direct ly tof u l f i l their needs by themselves, a lbei t individual ly and discretely. I n short, theirsis no t a poli t ics of protest, but of redress and s t ruggle fo r im m ed i a t e ou t com esl a rge ly t h r o u g h i n d i v i d u a l direct act ion.

The aimsW h a t do these men and women aim for? They seem to pursue two major goals .The first is the redistribution of social goods and oppor tun i t ies in the form of the( u n l a w f u l a nd d i rec t ) acqu is i t ion of col lect ive co ns u m ptio n ( lan d, shel ter , p ipedwate r , electr ici ty, roads) , p ub l i c space (street pavements, intersections, streetpa rk i ng places), opportuni t ies (favourable business condit ions, locations andlabe ls) , and other life chances essen t ia l for s u r v i v a l a nd m i n i m a l l iv ing stan-da rds .The other goal is a t t a i n i n g autonomy, both cu l tu ra l and poli t ical , f rom th eregul a t ions , ins t i tu t ions and disc ip l ine imposed by the state. The d isenf ranch isedexpress a deep desire to live an in formal life, to run their ow n affa i rs wi thouti n v o l v i n g th e au thor i t ie s or other modern formal ins t i tu t ions . This is not tosuggest that t radi t ion guides their l ives, b u t ra ther to insist that moderni n s t i t u t ions , in one sense, reproduce people 's ' t ra di t ion al ' re la t ions as solut ionsto the p r o b l e m s tha t these ins t i tu t ions engender . I n m a n y ' i n f o r m a l ' c o m m u n i t i e sin Third World cities, people rely on their ow n local and ' t rad i t ional ' normsd u r i n g t h e i r dai ly act ivi t ies , w h e t h e r i t be es tab l i sh ing con t rac ts (eg marr iage ) ,organis ing the i r local i ty, or reso lv in g loca l d i spu tes . I n a w a y they a re compel ledto exer t con t rol over the i r w ork ing l ives , regu la t in g the i r tim e a nd coord ina t ingthe i r space. They grow weary of the formal p rocedures govern ing the i r t ime ,obl iga t ions and commitments; they are re luctant to undertake discipl ine imposed,for ins tance , in pay ing taxe s a nd b i l l s , appear ing in pu b l i c in pa r t i cu l a r ways , a ndm os t b road ly in the practice of eve ryday l ife .36

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This d i s t rus t of modern state and i n s t i t u t ions has aroused tw o co n t r a s t i n greact ions . Some socio logis ts , nota bly fo l low ers of the Chicago school a ndpol i t ic ians , d i s m i s s the u r b a n poor a s ' m a r g i n a l s ' , ou t l a w s a n d c r i m i n a l s , a n dtheir com m un i t i es as bas t ions o f ' r u r a l pa roc h i a l i sm ' and ' t r a d i t i o n a l i s m ' . This' dev iance ' , they suggest, can be corrected o n l y b y inte g ra ting these people bac kinto the state and society; in short, by 'mode rn i s ing ' them. '7 Others, notablyJan ice Per lman a nd Castel l s , have vehemently at tacked th e premise of 'ma r g i n a l -i ty ' , a rgu ing tha t , f a r from be ing m arg ina l , these people are a l l wel l integrated.11 *Despite their differences, these riv al perspec tives sha re one i mpo r t an t a s s ump-t ion. Both assu m e that the ' ideal m an ' i s the wel l adju s ted and w el l in tegrated' m a n ' , in short, 'mo d e rn man ' .The fact is that these men and wo men a re n e i the r 'ma rg i n a l ' ( ie essen t i a l lytraditional and isolated) nor ful ly in tegrated . Rather , thei r pover ty and vulner-ab i l i t y dr ive them to seek autonomy f rom the state a nd modern i n s t i t u t i ons . Theytend to ref rain f rom resor t ing to police an d other governm ent off ices pr im ar i lybecause of the f a i l u re of bureauc rac ies and ' m o d e r n ' insti tutions to deliver fort h em. These i n s t i t u t i o n s impose the k i n d of d i sc ip l ine ( in te rms of r egu l a t i n gtheir t ime , behav iour a n d appea r an ce) w h i ch m an y s i mp l y can no t a f fo rd or wi t hw h i c h they do not wish to comply . Only the very poor m ay f av o u r i n t eg r a t i o ns ince, a t least in immedia te te rms , it gives them more than i t takes . Otherwisem a n y s l um- d we l l e r s a nd those re located f rom shanty- towns , a re i nc l ined to l ivein squatter areas partly because they seem free from the offic ial s u rv e i l l an ce an dmodern social control (for instance, in terms of the abil i ty to commun ic a teeasi ly, appear in pub l i c and pract ise thei r cu l tu re) . W hereas th e poor tend tore ject the constra in ing facet of mod erni ty , they welcom e i ts l ib era t ing d im ension.Thus , whi le the squatters do want to l ight thei r homes wi th e lectr ici ty , use pipedwate r and watch colour TV , they do not w a n t to pay bi l l s subject to s tr ictbu reauc rat ic reg ulat ions ; they yearn for f lexibi l ity and n ego tiat ion . Sim i la r ly ,street sub sistence w ork , despite i ts low sta tu s, low secu ri ty an d other costs, h asth e advan tage of freeing people from th e d i s c i p l i n e and contro l re lat ions of themodern work ing ins t i tu t ions . w Al thoug h s o mewha t r o m an t i c i s ed , Jo hn Fried-man's character isat ion of the Brazi l ian barrios a s a k i n d of 'pos t -modern i s t 'movemen t points to al ternat ive ways of l ife th e poor tend to pursue . In his v iew,th e barrios ' emphas i s on m oral econom y, t ru s t , cooperat ion , produ ction ofuse-va lues , loca l au tonomy a nd se l f - regul a t ion in a sense chal lenges modernpr inc ip les of exch ang e va lu e , bu reaucra cy and the state.40Let me make two points clear . The f i rs t i s that the notions of autonomy andintegra t ion in v i e w s of both the poor and the state are far f r om st r a i gh t f o rw a rd .They are the subject of contradictory processes , constant redef in i t ion and in tensenegotiat ion . Informal i ty is not an essential preference of the u rban poor; it servesp r im a r i l y as an a l te rna t ive to the cons t r a in ts o f fo rm al s t ruc tures . Ind eed , as theexamples above i l lus t ra te , m a n y poor people perhaps aspire a nd pract ice in te-grated l i fe, only if they can afford i ts social and c u l t u r a l , not to m e n t i o neconomic , costs. Thus , in the ear ly 1990s, the set tlers of I s lam sha hr , an i n fo r m a lc o m m u n i t y in south Tehran , campaigned for the o f f i c i a l i n t eg r a t i o n of theirc o m m u n i t y . Once that was achieved, however , new i n fo rma l c o m m u n i t i e s b eg a nto spr ing up a rou nd that tow nsh ip. Beyond th at , ju s t l ike the poor , the s ta tes a l so60


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exhibi t contradictory s tands on au tono m y and integrat ion. M ost governm entstend in practice to promote autonomy as an effort to transfer their responsibi l i tiesto thei r ci t i /ens , hence encouraging i n d i v i d u a l ini tiative, self-help, N C O S , and soforth. Observers l i ke Gilber t and Ward cons ider these measures a means ofsocial control.41 How ever , they fai l to recognise the fact that gov ernm ents , a t thesame t ime, d isplay apprehens ion about los ing pol i t ical space. I t is not u n c o m m o nto obse rve s ta tes im plem ent in g s im ul ta neou s ly conf l ic t ing policies of bothpromot ing a nd r e s t r i c t i n g au to n o mo us a nd i n fo rma l i n s t i t u t ions . Third Worldu r b a n l i f e is character ised by a c o m b i n e d and c o n t i n u o u s processes of i n f o r m a l -i sa t ion , i n tegra t ion and re - in fo rma l i s a t ion .The second p o i n t is t ha t the r i ch and p o w e r f u l m ay also des ire sel f - regu lat ionand autonomy f rom the d i sc ip l ine of the modern organisat ions . However , inr ea l i ty , un l i ke th e poor, they mos t ly benefit f rom those ar rangements ; it is thepowerful w ho ins t i tute them in the f i r s t place . Moreover , u n l i k e the poor, b yvi r tue of possessing resources ( kn o wl ed ge , sk i l l , money and connections) , therich can a f f o r d to function wi thin such ins t i tut ions . They are able, fo r instance,to pay their b i l l s or get to work on t ime .The two chief goals of the disenfranchisedredis t r ibut ion and autonomyare qu i te in ter re la ted . The form er ensures s u r v i v a l and a be t te r mate r i a l life; thelatter serves not only as an end in itself bu t also as a means to achieve th eobject ive of the redis tr ib ut ion : Actin g au ton om ou sly f rom the s tate , poori n d i v i d u a l s m ay be able to obtain publ ic goods ( i l legal l and, shelter and so on)that they a re u n l i k e l y to a t ta in th rough l ega l a nd ins t i tu t ional ised mechan i s ms ,unless they a re demanded th rough a powerful co l lect ive mobi l i sat ion .

I n the qu ie t encroachm ents, the s t ruggles to achieve these u n l a w f u l goals a rehard ly p l anned or a r t i cu l a ted . They a re seen as n a t u r a l and mo ra l responses toth e urgency of s u rv i v a l and the desire for a d ign i f i ed l ife , however def ined. I nth e Middle Eas tern cul ture , th e notion of ' necess i ty 'the necessity of mai n t a i n -in g a ' d ign i f ied l i f e ' u n d e r l i e s th e poor people 's sense of j us t i ce . The Persianphrase chare-i i neest ( the re i s no o the r way) and i t s Arab ic equiva len t na'maleihl (what e l se c a n w e do?) a r t i c u l a t e mo ra l l an guage of urban pol i t ics ,responses through which the poor often j u s t i fy their acts of t ransgression.42 Thisidea of 'dignity ' is closely associated wi t h the public judgement, wi th thec o m m u n i t y or ' f r i ends a nd foes ' de te rmin ing i ts m e a n i n g . To m a i n t a i n adign i f ied l ife, a f a m i l y needs to possess cer ta in c u l t u r a l / m a t e r i a l ab i l i t i es .Preserving aaberou or 'ard (honour ) th rough generos i ty , b r avery and , moreimportantly , through secur ing th e hayn (sexual modesty) of the wo men in thef ami ly m a r k a few such resources. But the essentia l components more re levantto our discussion i nc lude an ' abi l i ty to provide ' , to 'protect th e hareem of thehousehold f rom p u b l i c in tr u s ion, and f inal ly the 'ab i l i ty to concea l ' possiblefa i lures (aabirourizi, or fadiha). For a poor head of a household, not only wouldthe fa i lure to prov ide for his f a m i l y jeopardise their s u r v i v a l , i t w o ul d a l so i n f l i c ta blow to his honour. Homelessness, fo r instance, s ignif ies an u l t i m a t e loss in al lof these accounts . A d w e l l i n g , beyond i ts funct ion of protect ing th e householdfrom physical dangers (cold , heat and the l i ke ) , serves also as a cul tural locat ion.By preserving the harccm, s a f e g u a r d i n g people f rom moral dangers , it concealssho r tcomings a nd preserves aaberou before th e publ i c gaze . The r ich m ay also

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share s imi la r va lues , but the poor have a lower capaci ty to conceal fa i lur es , thu sm a k i n g their ' d ignif ied l i fe ' more vulnerable.In th is percept ion of j us t i ce informed b y necessi ty , one who has a basic needmay and should f u l f i l l it , even if illegally, so long as he does not harm othersl ike h imse l f . The rich can probably afford to lose some of the ir w ea l th . W henth e state begins to challenge these notions, thus violating their codes of justice ,th e poor, moral ly out raged, tend to rebel.43 Yet 1 m ust empha sise tha t this 'mora lpolit ics ' does not prec lude th e poor from th e rational use of any pol i t ica l spacein which they ca n m a x im i se t he i r g a i ns. B r i b i ng officials , a l l iances wi th pol i t ica lpart ies, ut i l i s ing pol i t i ca l r iva l r i es an d exp lo i t i ng gove rnmen t a l or non-govern-menta l associations are all part of the rules of the game.Becoming political

If these movements begin wi thou t political mea n ing , and i f illegal encroach-ment s a re often just i f ied on mora l g rounds (as a way to su rv i ve ) , t hen how dothey turn into collective/political struggles? So long as the actors carry on wi ththeir everyday a dvances w i tho ut being confronted ser iously by any a u t ho r i t y ,they treat their doings a s ordinary everyday pract ice. Once their gains a rethreatened, they become conscious of thei r act ions and the v a l u e of thei r ga ins ,and they defend them col lect ively and a u d i b l y . I descr ibe th e logic of t r ans form-a t ion from i n d i v i d u a l to collective action later. Suffice it to state here that then u m e r o u s ant i -government r iots by squat ters , s t reet vendors and other mar-gina l ised groups point to the cent ra l i ty of col lect ive res is tance among theseatomised poor. The s t ruggle of the actors i s no t abou t mak ing a ga in , bu tpr imar i ly about defending and fur ther ing ga ins a l ready won. In such conjunc-tures, th e contenders may go so far as to give some st ructure to thei r act ivi t ies ,by creating networking, cooperation or ini t ia t ing more structured organisations.Such organi s ing i s a imed a t m a in ta in ing , conso l ida t ing and ex tending thoseear l ier achievements.W h e n does th e state enter the arena? State opposit ion u s u a l l y occurs when thec u m u l a t i v e growth of the encroachers a nd thei r doings pass beyond a ' tolerablepoin t ' . Depending on the eff ic iency of the pa r t i cu la r s t a te , the a v a i l a b i l i t y ofalternative solutions, and the resistance of these quiet rebels, states n o r m a l l ytolera te sca ttered offen sives , especia l ly w hen they ha ve still n ot become a c r i t i ca lforce. The t r ick for the actors, therefore, is to appear l imi t ed and tole rab le w hi leexpanding so much that res is tance aga inst them becomes diff icult . I ndeed , m a ny( squat te rs , vendors , a nd ca r -pa rkers ) try del ibera te ly to hal t thei r spread incertain areas by not a l lowing thei r counterparts to jo in them. Others resort tob r i b ing m i n o r o f f i c i a l s or m i n i m i s i n g v i s i b i l i t y ( fo r ins t anc e , squa t t ing in remoteareas or vending in less provocative areas). Almost a ll take advantage ofu n d e r m i n e d state power a t t imes of cr is is ( fo l lowing a r evo l u t i on , war o reconomic b r e a k d o w n ) to spread fur ther a nd entrench thei r posi t ion. I n brief, theprotagonis ts exploi t the three oppor tun i t i escr i s i s , b r i b i n g a n d i nv i s ib i l i tya l l o w in g them to rema in to le rab le when in fact m u l t i p l y i n g .

Once th e ex t en t of thei r expansion and i m p a c t is revealed, however , s t a t ereaction a nd c r a c k d o w n often become i nev i t a b l e . I n most cases, c r a ckdow ns f a i l62


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because they are u s u a l l y lau nc hed too la te , w hen the encroachers ha ve a l readyspread, become vis ib le and ac hieved a ' c r i t ica l m ass ' . I ndeed, the descr ipt ion bymost officials of the process as ' cancerou s ' captures the d yn am ics of such amovement . 44The sources of the conflict between th e state and the disenfranchised have todo with th e economic and political costs tha t quiet encroachment imposes on theau thor i t ie s and the r i ch . ' I n fo rma l ' an d f ree-of-charge redis t r ibut ion of p ub l i cgoods exerts a hea vy bu rden on a state's resources. The r ichreal es ta te owners ,mercha n t s and shopkeepersalso lose properties, brands and business opportu-nities . The all iance of the rich and the state adds a class dimension to theexis t ing pol i t ica l conf lic t .Beyond th e economic d imens ion , th e poor people's drive for au tonomy ineveryday life creates a b ig crack in the d o m i n a t i o n of the modern s ta te . A f u l l ya u t o n o m o u s l i f e renders s ta tes i r relevant . Popular control over contracts , regu-lation of t ime, space, cu l tu ra l ac t iv i t ies , w ork in g l i fein short , self-regulationreclaims significant polit ical space from th e state. Herein lies th e inevi tabi l i ty ofconflict . 'Street poli t ics '45 exempl i f i es th e most salient aspect of this conflict ,acco un t i n g for a key fea tu re in the social l i fe of the disenfranchised.

Street politicsBy 'street politics', I m e a n a set of conf l ic ts and the at tendant impl ica t ionsbetween a collective populace and the authorit ies, shaped and expressed episod-ical ly in the physical and social space of the ' s t reets 'from the alleyways to them ore v is ib le pav em ents , pu b l ic park s or sports a reas . The 's treet ' in this senseserves a s the onl y locu s of collec tive exp ression for, bu t by no mea ns l im ited to,those w ho s t ru ctur a l ly lack any ins t i tu t iona l sett ing to express discontent. Thisgroup includes squatters, th e unemployed , street subsistence workers (eg ven-dors) , members of the underwor ld (eg beggars, prostitutes), petty thieves andhousewives . The term s ignif ies an a r t i cu la t ion of discontent by c lus te rs ofdif feren t social agents without ins t i tu t ions , coherent ideology or ev id en t leader-ship .Two key factors t ransform the 'streets' into an arena of polit ics. The firstfol lows Foucaul t ' s genera l observat ion about space as power.46 I t results fromthe use of pub l i c space as a s ight of contestation between th e populace and theAuthor i ty . At one l eve l , wha t makes s t ree t ac t iv i ty pol i t ica l is the act ive orpar t ic ipat ive (as opposed to passive) use of pu b l i c space; thus the use of streetpav emen t s , crossroads, u rb a n l a nd , the space for a s semb ly and pu b l i c expres-s ions of cul tu re a l l become s i tes of contesta t ion. These s i tes increasingly becometh e doma in of the state power which regulates their usage, making them'orderly'. The state expects users to operate passively according to rules it hasset. An y a ct ive and pa rt ic ipa t ive use cha l leng es the control of the Au tho ri ty andthose socia l groups which benefit from such order .This k ind of 'street ' life and these types of ac t iv i t i e s are by no m e a n s anovelty . They could be seen in 16th-18th cen t u ry Europe,47 and unt i l veryrecently in the u r b a n M i d d l e East.48 They did not enta i l 'street politics ' ,how ever . W hat m akes them pol i t ica l a re novel fea tures: u nl ik e in the past , when

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loca l com m un it ies enjoyed a great deal of autonom y and se lf- reg ula t ion, nowthey are under centra l ised governments which regula te and control the s t ree t andlocal life.49The second element in shaping street politics is the operation of w h a t I ha vecalled the pass ive network among the people who use p u b l i c space. Anycollect ive pol i t ica l a c t m o b i l i s a t i o n requ i r e s some degree of org an isa t io n,communicat ion and ne twork ing among actors. For the most part, this is consti-tuted deliberately, either formally or in fo rma l ly . T h u s squatters, th e unemployed,or imm ig ran ts f rom the sam e p lace of or ig in m ay establ ish form al associa t ionsw i t h c o n s t a n t c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a nd r e gu l a r m e e t i ng s . Or they m a y insteaddevelop i n fo rma l contacts among themselves. Vendors on the same street, forexample , may get together on an ad hoc basis to discuss their problems ors imp ly cha t and socia l ise . I n both formal and i n f o r m a l cases, th e pa r t ic ipantswould have an active network among themselves in tha t they become k n o w n toeach other , tal k, m eet and consc iously i n te r ac t w i t h one another . However ,contrary to Ti l ly ' s perception of an organisa t ionone w i t h high 'catness'(strong cohesion) and ' ne tness ' (interpersonal c o m m u n i c a t i o n s ) n e t w o rk sneed not be active. The ' street ' as a publ ic p lace possesses t h i s i n t r i ns i c fea ture ,m a k i n g it possible for people to m ob i l i se w i thou t h a v i n g an ac t ive ne twork . Thisis carried ou t through 'passive n e two rks 'the i n s t a n t a ne ous com m un ic a t ionam ong atomised ind iv idua ls which is established by the tacit recognit ion of theirc o m m o n ident i ty and is media ted th rough space. A w o m a n w ho enters am a le -d o m in a t ed par ty ins tan t ly notices another female among the m e n ; ve ndo r sin a street notice each other even though they may never speak to each other .

Un l i k e , say , dispersed ta x strikers, a passive ne twork ex is t s amongs t both th ew om e n at the party and vendors in a given locality. The tenants of a counci lhous ing u n i t , i l l ega l i m m i g r a n t s to a coun t r y , tax str ikers, th e w o m e n at themale-dominated par ty , s t ree t vendors , or spectators a t a footbal l m a t c h a llrepresent a tomised ind ivid ua ls w ho, a t a cer ta in level , have a s im ilar s ta tu s andan ident i ty of interests among themselves (see Figure 2). For Bourdieu , each ofth e above signifies a ' theoret ical group ' , becoming 'real' only when they a re' represented ' . ' '1 Bu t how? This is not explored. I n his fo rmu l a t i on , a f u n d a m en t a le l e m e n t of groupnessnetworkis e i the r ignored or t aken for granted .The fact is that these ' juxtaposed in d iv id u al s ' can pote nt ia l ly act together. Butacting together requires a m e d ium or network to establ ish communicat ion.I l lega l i m m i g r a n t s or tax s t rike r s cann ot resist sta te act ion unless they begin toorganise themse lves d e l ibe r a te ly , s ince n o medium l ike space b r ings themtogether (see Figure 3) . Tenants , specta tors , vendors , squat te rs and the womendescribed above, even though they do not k n o w each other, may ac t collectivelybecause common space makes it possible fo r them to recognise the ir commoninterests a nd id en tity (see Figure 4 )tha t is, to develop a pass ive ne twork .W h a t mediates be tween a pass ive ne twork an d act ion is c o m m o n t h r ea t . Oncethese a tomised ind ivid ua ls a re confronted by a threat to the ir ga ins , the ir passivenetwork spon taneously tu rn s into an act ive network and collective action. Thusth e threat of evic t ion b r ings m a n y squa t te r s toge the r im m edia te ly , even if theydo not know each o the r . L ikewise , th e suppor te r s of r iv a l t e a m s in a footbal lm a tch often cooperate to conf ron t police in the streets. This is not s i m p l y64


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m

F I G U R E 1 No networkAtomised i nd iv idua l s w i thou t a common posi t ion .

a aF I G U R E 2 N o networkAtomised i nd iv idua l s w i th a common posi t ion .

F I G U R E 3 Active networkIndividua ls wi th s imi la r posi t ions b rought together b y a del ibera te attempt:associations w i t h an act ive network .

F I G U R E : 4 Passive networkPossibility of atomised ind ivid ua ls w i th s im i la r posi tions b roug ht together t h r o u g hspace.

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because of psychologically induced or ' i r ra t ional ' 'crowd action' but to a moresociological fact of interest recognit ion and latent communicat ion.Already organised i n d i v i d u a l s m ay also attempt to extend their (passive orac t ive ) network to those other than thei r immedia te members . Students , factoryworkers or w o m e n ' s associations, for instance, w ho demonstrate in the streets,do so in order to publ ic ise thei r cause and ga in so l ida r i ty . The very act ofdemonstration in pub l i c means , in a sense, attempting to establ ish communi-cation w i t h those who a re unknown to demons t ra to rs , bu t who m i g h t b e subjectto s im i l a r condi t ions a s themselves; they hope to act iva te this passive communi-cation to extend col lect ive act ion.I t has to be stressed tha t th e movement f rom passive into act ive network andcollective action is never a given. It is subject to the same complex i ty andcont ingent upon s imi la r factors as the movement f rom a consciously organisednetwork in to mobi l i s a t ion .5 2 Factors l i ke a l e g i t im a c y crisis of the state, divisionw i t h i n ru l in g el i tes , breakdow n in socia l cont rol and access to resources may allfaci l i ta te col lect ive act ion; and, in turn, the threa t of 'repression'," i n te r -g roupdivis ion and the u sefu lne ss of tem porary com plian ce a re l ikely to hind erm ob i l i s a t i on . The point here is not tha t a threat to evict a g roup of squatters m aynot necessari ly lead to thei r col lect ive res is tence; t rade unions m ay also acqui-esce before a threat of lay -off. The poi nt ra ther is to show how grou ps ofatomised individuals wi thou t ac t ive networks and o rgani sa t ion can and d oengage, often ins tant ly , in collective action; that is the result of the operation ofpass ive networks among them.This u np lan ned , un s t ruc tu red and ins t an taneous poss ib i l i ty of g roup ac t ionrenders the street as a highly vola t i le locus of conf l ic t and thu s po l i t i c s . It is theoperation of ' pa ss ive networks ' tha t l ies behind th e polit ical ' d ange r ' of thes treetsas th e streets represent public space p ar excellence. N o wonder everyun po pu l a r gover nm ent pays such c lose a t t en t ion to cont ro l l ing them . W hi lesta tes may b e able to rest r ic t de l ibe ra tely organ ised d em onst ra t ions or ra l l ie s ,they a re of ten incapab le of proh ib i t i ng s tr ee t popu l a t i ons f rom w ork ing , d r i v i n gor w a l k i n g i n short , from street l ife . The m ore open and v i s ib le the pu b l i cplace, the broader the opera t ion of pa ssiv e netw ork s and therefore the wid er theposs i b i l i t y of co l lec t ive ac t ion becomes . Passive networks represent an inherente lement of street and back-street life; they ensure instant cooperation of thei n d i v i d u a l actors once they feel a threat to their well-being. In the absence of theconcept of ' pass ive networks ' , many find it d i f f i cu l t to m a k e sense of the' s u r p r i s i n g ' , ' u n e x p e c t e d ' a n d spontaneous mass e rupt ions in urban set t ings . ' '4This dialectic of i n d i v i d u a l and collective ac t ionthe possibility of collectiveresistence together wi th the mora l jus t i f ica t ion for i n d i v i d u a l enc roa chmen t perhaps expla ins th e resilience of the disenfranchised in carrying on theirs t ruggle for s u r v i v a l and be t t e rmen t of the i r p r e d i c a m e n t s .

The making of the quiet encroachmentH ow universa l is the quiet encroachment of the ordinary? And under wha tcondi t ions i s such ac t iv i sm l i ke ly to emerge? Q u i e t enc roa chmen t in d e v e l o p i n g66


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countr ies seems to evolve f rom a c o m b i n a t i o n of s t ruc tu ra l and cu l t u r a l factors,rendering it a historically specific phenomenon.To begin wi th, the raw mater i a l of the movementthe ac torsorig ina telargely from th e desperate clusters of the urban unemployed, underemployed andother marg ina l i sed groups .55 I t seems that n a t u r a l popu la t ion inc rease (pr im ar i lyresul t ing f rom poverty) and especially th e classical model of r u r a l - u rb a nmigra t ion ( resu l t ing from the ma l d i s t r i b u t i o n of l a n d , r u r a l u n e m p l o y m e n t ,n a t u r a l or m a n-m a de d i s a s t er s , u r b a n b i a s a nd l im i t ed i ndus t r i a l expa ns ion ) ha vebeen the primary reasons for u rb a n unem ploym en t . E v idence show s t ha t , for themost part , th e u rb a n economy is u n a b l e to absorb fu l ly th e a m o u n t of l abourcreated by na tu ra l popu la t ion g rowth .56 Thus a large n u m b e r of re l a t ive lyeduca ted and fi rs t- t im e job-seekers rem ain s out of work . Overa l l , urba n mi-gration serves as the primary factor. On average, nearly half of the increase inu r ba n popu l a t i on in the Thi rd Wor ld has resul ted f rom migra t ion. This ra te fo rboth Ghana and Tanzania is 60%, and for Ivory Coast 70%.57Besides this classic scenario, some new developments have in recent yearsmul t ip l ied the size of these groups. A global crisis of populist modernisation ina nu m ber of Thi rd W or ld coun t r ies s ince the 1980s, and the collapse of socialisteconomies since th e 1990s, ha ve led to a ma ss ive de - ins t i tu t iona l i sa t ion , prole-t a r i an i sa t ion a nd ma rg ina l i s a t i on . The a l t e rna t ive s t r a teg iesstruc tura l adjust -m e n t and s t ab i l i sa t ion p rog ram m estend to make a s izable segment of a l readyemployed people redundant , w i thou t a clear prospect of boosting th e economyand c rea t ing v i a b l e jobs . In the ear ly 1990s , dur ing the t r ans i t ion to a ma rke teconomy in post-socialist, ' adjust ing ' Lat in American countr ies and in theM i d d l e Eas t , fo rma l employment fell by between 5% and 15%.5X I n Afr ica , then u m b e r of unemployed grew by 10% or more every year throughout the 1980s,w h i l e l abo ur absorpt ion in the fo rma l w a ge sector kept dec l in ing .59 By the ea r ly1990s th e o p e n u n e m p l o y m e n t in Third World countr ies had i nc reased drama t i -cal ly .6 0 Thus a l a rge nu m be r of the once w el l -to -do and educa ted m iddle classes(government employees and stud ents) , pu bl ic sector workers , a s wel l as seg-m e n t s of the peasant ry , have been pushed into the ranks of the urban poor inl abour and hous in g m a rke ts .The state's u n w i l l i n g n e s s and i nab i l i ty to offer adequate work, protection andu r b a n prov is ions puts these people in a s im i l a r col lect ive posi t ion, ev en if it doesnot give them a collective identity, as the unemployed, squat ters , s lum dwel lersor st reet subsis tence workersin short , as potent ia l ' s t reet rebels ' . Lack of aninst i tu t ional setting leaves these men and w o m e n to struggle in their atomisedfo rmat ions . Many developing count r ies seem to have experienced s i m i l a r pro-cesses. W ha t d i s ti ngu i shes th e form of mobi l i sa t ion wi th in these nations has tod o with loca l pol i t ica l c u l t u r e s an d i ns t i t u t ions .The repressive policy of the state renders i n d i v i d u a l , q u i e t a nd h i ddenmobi l i sa t ion a more v i a b l e st ra tegy than open, col lect ive protest . Under suchcond i t ions , col lec t ive and open di rect act ion tak es place on ly a t except ionalconjunctures , in particular, when states experience crises of legi t imacy, such asth e r evo l u t i ona ry c r i s is in I r a n d u r i n g 1979; Egypt after th e 1967 defeat ; andSouth Africa after the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s.However , where some degree of pol i t ica l openness prevai ls , compet i t ion

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between pol i t ica l parties provides a brea th ing g round for the col lect ive act ion oford ina ry people. I n order to win electoral and m ass su pport , r iva l pol i t ica lg roupings and pa t rons i nev i t ab ly mobi l i se the poor (as in I n d i a , Mexico, Peru ,Brazi l and Chi l e in the ea r ly 1970s) .6 ' This is u n l i k e l y to happen u nd er au toc ra t icsystems where winning votes is not a concern of the polit ical leadership. Quietenc roa chmen t is therefore largely the fea tu re of undemoc ra t i c pol i t ica l systems,as wel l as of cultures where tradit ional insti tutions serve as an alternative to civicassociations a nd socia l m ovem ents . This m a y pa r t i a l ly e x p l a i n why in mostM i d d l e Eastern count r ies , where au thor i t a r i a n ru le domina t es , a nd w h e r e f ami lyand k i n s h i p a re pivota l for i n d i v i d u a l s ' support and securi ty , it is l a rge ly th estrategy of quiet encroachment tha t seems to prevai l ,6 2 whereas in m a n y La t inAmerican nations, where some t radit ion and practice of political competition andpol i t ica l pa t ronage opera te, m obi l i sa t ion tends to a s sume a col lect ive, audibleand associa t ional character ; urb an land inva sions , ur ba n poor associa tions an dstreet t rade u ni on ism appear to m a r k a major fea tu re of u rba n po l i t i c s in th i sregion of the world."States m ay a l so cont r ibu te to q u i e t enc roa chmen t in another way. This type ofmovement i s l ikely to grow where both th e ineff ic ien t sta te bureaucracy andr ig id formal organisations, notably th e 'merchant i l i s t ' state described by DeSoto,64 predominate, s ince such i n s t i t u t i o n s tend to encourage people to seekmore informa l and a u t o n o m o u s l i v ing and work ing condi t ions . The s i tua t ion inmore efficient and democra t i c se t t ings is , however , qu i te di fferent . The moredemocra t ic and efficient the state, th e l ess g round for the expa ns ion of high lyautonomous movements ; for , under such c i rcumstances , th e poor tend to becomein tegrated into the state structure and a re inc l ined to play the preva i l i ng g a mes,ut i l is ing th e exist ing m e a n s and inst i tu t ions , however l imi ted, to improve thei rl ives.6 '

NotesI am gra te fu l to S a m i r Shahala , Clar i sa e n c o m o . Sa m i / . ubu ic la , Fa rh a d Ka / c in i , R i c h a r d B u l h c l and JoeStorke for I he i r c o m m e n t s and s u g g e s t ion s on ear l ie r vers ions of t h i s ar t i c le . I w o u l d also l i k e lo a c k n o w l e d g eth e M i d d l e Fast Research Com p e t i t ion ( M I K I ) of the Ford F o und a t io n lo r il s s u p p o r t l o i .1 p i o i e c l of w h i c ht h i s ar t ic le is a p r e l im ina r y resu l t .

' T h i s e ssay d raws on the i n t r o d uc to r y chap t e r of my f o r t hco ming h o o k , .S'mrl l 'o/iln*, l'uniMovement* in Iran, 1977 I W O , N ew York : C o l u m b i a Un ive rs i t y Press, 1997.' ' F o r d o c u m e n t a t i o n se e Fre de r i c Shor te r , ' C a i r o ' s leap forward: people, ho useho ld s a n d d w e l l i n g s p a c e ' ,Cairo / ' < ; / ) < < n in Six ml S


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'For instance, out of KM spon t ane ous se t t l emen ts ' in C a i r o and Gi/.a only six have been relocated Howe ve r ,as a s t u dy sugge s t s , the new s t a l e sponso re d se t t lements h a v e in l arge part t a i led to respond lo th e needsof the i n h a b i t a n t s w h o , in t u r n , h a v e pers is ted in o r g a n i s i n g t he i r ow n space. See I Tawt iq , 'Discoursea n a l y s i s of i n f o r m a l hous ing in Egypt ' ; and F G h a n n a m , ' Re loc a t ion , gender and the produc t ion of u r b a nspace i n C a i r o ' , unpu b l i she d pape r, 1 992.6 Largely based upon m y o w n observat ions , see also Al-Wafd, 17 January 1995, p 3; Al-Wafd, 9 December1994; AI-Ahnim Weekly, 1 1 - 1 7 February, 1993; see also reports by M E I -Ad ly & M Morsy , 'A study ofs l ice ! v e n d o r s in C a i r o ' , g rad ua t e t erm paper , Cairo: The Am erican U niver si ty , Depa rtment of Sociology,I99S. H Tadros , M Feteeha & A Hib h a rd . ' Sq u a t t e r m a r k e t s in Cai ro ' . Cairo Papers in Social Science.

1 3 ( I ) , 1990, offers a very useful descript ion of vendors' day-to-day act ivit ies in Cai ro7 The report appeared in Fa r Eastern Economu Review, 18 June 1992, p 68.8 See, fo r i n s t ance , H D e Soto, Th e Other Path: T he Invisible Revolution in the Third World, New York:1 1 . u p e r a n d Row . 1 9 X 9 ; J Cross . ' O r g a m / u t i o n a n d resis tance in the i n f o r ma l e c o n o m y ' , u n p u b l i s h e d m i m i o .The A m e r i can U n ive rs i t y i n Cairo , 1995; H Bienen, ' U r b a n i / a l i o n and Third World s t a b i l i t y ' . WorldDevelopment , 1 2 (7 ) , pp 661-691; and A Leeds & E Leeds, 'Account ing fo r behavioral d i f fe rences: threep o l i t i c a l sys tems and the responses o f s q u a t t e r s i n B r a / i l . Peru , a nd Chi l e ' , in J W a l t o n & L Mago t t i (eds),T he ('it\ in Comparat ive I'enpettive, London : John W i l l e y , 1976.'' D o c u m e n t e d in F Le iva & J Pe tras , 'Chi le : new u rba n movem ents and the t rans i t ion t o de m ocracy ' . MonthlyKeview, Ju ly - A ugus t 1987, p 117 .!" Ibid, p 1 1 3 .

" See M Stiefel & M Wolfe , A Voice For the Excluded: Popular Participation in Development, Utopia o rNi'tt'\\i/\ '. L o n d o n : Zed Books, p 201 .'" From a l ec ture g ive n b y Professor ( i a i l G ir ha r t on New South Africa, The A m e r i c a n U n i v e r s i t y i n Cairo ,3 May 1995.1 ' These loaded te rms are of ten incorrec t ly a t t r i b u t e d to M a r x who had a di ffe ren t u n de r s t a n d in g of the m. Ma rxused the term ' lumpen' to point to those people who l ived on the labour of o thers . The ex ploi t i ngbourgeoisie , th e well-off classes, were, of course, in th is category. By the ' l u m p e n pro le t a r i a t ' , M arx re fe r re dto those non-bourgeois poor e lements who did not produce the i r own l ive l ihood and subs is ted on th e w o r kof others. The agents w h i c h are the subject of this book, th e urban disenfranchised, are not of th is group.For a d e t a i l e d d i scuss io n see H Draper , Karl Mar\ , / ' / icon of Revolut ion: Th e I'olilu ^ ol Sot ml ( ' / < n ' s .Vol 2. New Y ork : Mon thly Re view Press , 1978.1 ' For a comprehensive rev iew of l i t e r a ture on the debates re la t ing to the M iddle East , see J Sehwedler,Towtin/ ('nil So t ten in the Middle l-.tni ' A Primer, f iou lder , C O: L y n n R i e n n e r , 1995."See J Scott , Dominat ion and the An*, o f Re\t\tance: Hidden Tran\cript\. N ew Have n , CT: Yale Univers i tyPress, 1990, pp 150-151 ; also F Colburn (ed) , l:\t-r\ilti\- l-Hnn\ of Peasant Resistance. N ew York : Sharpe,1989; J Scott, Weapon/, of the Weak: t.ver\das l-tirnis o f Pensant Resistance, New Haven , CT: YaleU n i v e r s i t y Press, 1985; and J Scot t , 'Everyday l o r n i s ol res is tance ' . Journal o f ' Pea\ant Studies, 3 1 ( 2 ) . 1986.This volume of the j ou rna l c on t a i n s s e v e r a l p i e c e s d i s c u s s i n g I h i s i he me .16 The major e x p on e n t of the ' c u l t u r e of pove r ty ' t he s i s is Oscar L e w i s ; see his 'Cu l t u re of poverty ' , in Lewis ,Anthropological / - . v u n . v , New Y o r k : R a n d o m H o u s e , 1970 and h is i n t roduc t ion to Children of Stint hi':.L o n d o n : P e n g u i n , 1961. For a cr i t ical appraisal of the ' cu l tu re of poverty ' thesis see E Leacock (e d ) . T h eCulture of Poverty: A Critique, N ew York: Simon and Schuster, 1971 . The notion of 'marg in a l man ' goesback de cade s , see (i S i m m e l . 'The s t ranger ' , in K W olf f ( ed ) . T h e Socioloifv of (.ieorge Snnmel , N ew Y o r k :Free Press, 1950; R P a rk , ' H u m a n m i g r a t i o n and the m a r g i n a l m a n ' , American Journal o f Sociologe. 33(6),1928, pp 881-893; E Stonequist , 'The problem o f th e m a r g i n a l m a n ' , American Journal ol S IH lologv. 4 1 ( 1 ) ,19.35, pp 1-12 ; L W i r t h , ' U r b a n i s m as a way of l i f e ' , American Journal o f Sociology, 44 , 1938, pp 1-24,and other sociologists belonging to the C h i c a g o school For a strong cr i t ique of the 'marginal i ty thesis' se eJ Pe r lman , The Myth of Mar/finality, Berke ley , C A: Unive rs i t y of Cal i forn ia Press . 1976.For t h i s perspec t ive see J Power, World Hunger: A Strategy fo r Survival , London: Temple Sou th , 1976;M Mor r i son & P G u t k i n d ( e ds ) . Hoiisinx Urban Poor in Afrit a. Syracuse , NY: Ma xw el l School ofCi t i / e n s h ip a n d Publ ic Affai r s , 1982.l s A F.siohar adv .mces h is argument speci f ical ly in re la t ion to poor w o m e n . A Escobar , EncounteringDe\elopment: Th e Making ant! Unmaking of the third World , Princeton, NJ: Princeton U nive r s i t y Press,1995.' ' ' On the r i gh t , see S H u n t i n g t o n ,Political Order in Changing Sonets. I t haca , N Y : Corne ll U niv ers i ty Press,1968; J N elso n , "Flic u r b a n poor d i s r u p t i on or p o l i t i c a l i n t eg r a t io n in Thi rd Wor ld c i t i e s ' , World I 'olnn \.22 . 1970, pp 393-414; and S H u n t i n g t o n & ) N e lson . N o h,is\ ('linn e Poliiual Participation in DevelopingCounine\. C a m b r i d g e , M A: H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1976 On the l e f t see F Fanon , T h e Wretilted o f th eI ,u lit. L on don P e n g u i n , 1967; H Bie ne n , ' U r b a n i / a l i o n and Thi rd Wor ld s t ab i l i t y ' . World Development12(7) , 1984, pp 661-691.

'" M o st of these w o r k s orig inate f rom L a t in American experience of w h i c h th e i n s t i t u t i o na l i s a t io n ofcommunity pa r t i c ipa t io n i s a s a l i e n l f e a t u r e w i t h s i g n i f i c a n t pol i t i ca l impl i ca t ions . On the ' r evo lu t io n i s t 'pos i t ion see. lor i n s t an c e , M A Garre ton , 'Popular m o b i h / a t i o n a n d m i l i t a r y r e g i m e in Chi l e : th e69


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comple x i t i e s of i n v i s i b l e t r a n s i t i o n ' , i n S E c k s te in (e d ) . Power anil Popular Protest: Latin American So i mlMovements , Berke ly , CA: Un ivers i ty of Ca l i fo rn i a Press, 1989. Fanon's Wretched o f th e Earth, is a w e l lk n o w n e x a m p l e of t h i s position. For the ' p a s s iv i s l ' a p p r o a c h see W C o r n e l i u s , I 'oluit s anil Migrant P oorin Mexico Cit\. S t an f o r d , CA: Stanford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1975.21 Fo r instance, S Stokes, 'Politics and Latin Amer i ca ' s urban poor: reflections f rom a L i m a shanty town',Latin American Research Review, 26(2) , 1991, represents a 'centrist ' approach.22 At the same t ime , Scott's work on peasant ry seems to h a v e m o v e d m a n y scholars to another ex t reme ofreading to o m u c h po l i t i c s i n t o th e da i ly l i f e ol ordinary people. I n a n o the rw i se e xc e l l e n t wo rk , S i n g e r m a n ' sAvenues o f Participation, Prince ton , N J: Prince ton Un iv e r s i ty Press, 1995, a t t e m p t in g to deduce p o l i t i c sfrom th e dai ly l ives of popu l a r c l asses m Cairo , vir tua l ly m i x e s u p re s i s t ance /po l i t i csan d coping t echn iquesadopted b y these people. J a m e s Scott is c l e a r a b o u t d i s t i n g u i s h i n g be twe e n th e two.23 Scott, 'Everyday forms of resis tance ' , p 6 .24 Se e M ( ' a s t e l l s . ' I s the re a n u r b a n sociology ' 1 ', in C Pickvance ( ed ) . Urban Soi niions, London : Tav i s tockPress, 1976; ( ' a s t e l l s , ' Squa t t e r s and the slate in La t in A m e r i c a ' , in J Gug le r (ed) . Urbanization o f th e HuntWorld , Oxford: Oxford U nive r s i t y Press, 1982; and Caste l ls , Cities and the Grassroots , Berke ley , C A:Univers i ty of Cal i forn ia Press , 198325 See F S c h u r m a n & van Naerssen , Urban Social Movement in l h < ' Hind World , London: Croom H e l m ,1989

26 See J Friedmann , 'The d ia le c t i c ol r e a s o n ' . International Journal o f Urban an d Regional Research, 13(2),1989, pp 217-244; and 'The L at in Am erican barrio m o v e m e n t as a social move me n t : con t r i bu t ion to ad e ba t e ' . International Journal o j Urban an d Regional Reseunh, 1 3 (3 ) . 1989, pp 50I-510.27 For a b r i l l i an t a n a l y s i s of ' a rcha i c ' soc i a l move me n t s , see L H o b s b a w m , Primitive Rebels. Studies inArchaic Forms oj Social Movement.', in the IVth and the 20th Centuries, N e w York : WW N or ton , 1959. Iunderstand th e t e rm ' p r im i t i ve ' or ' a r cha i c ' i n th e p a r t i c u l a r luslornal contex t tha t H o b s b a w m d e a l s w i t h(m a in ly 1 9 th century Europe) and not as a theore t ica l ca t e gory ne ce ssa r i l y app l i ca b l e to social a c t i v i t i e s t h a iappear to resemble the ones he e x a m i n e s Some cr i t ics of Hobsbawm seem to ignore t h i s h i s t o r i c a ldimension , leav ing therefore no empir ical p os s i b i l i t y for certain ac t iv i t ies ac tua l ly to be prc -pol i t ica l ora r c h a ic . Such pe rce pt ion is i m p l i c i t i n Scot t , ' Eve ryday f o r ms of res is tance ' , p 22; see also A b u - l u g h o d ,'The romance of res i s tance: t r ac ing t r ans f o r ma t io n of powe r t h rou g h Be dou in wome n ' , American r. lhnoloXi\t. 1 7 ( 1 ) , 1990, p 47 .28 I n general there is no ag re e me n t on the d e f i n i t i o n ol the New Soci a l M o v e m e n t s . For a d i s c u s s ion ol thep r e v a i l i n g con t rove r s i e s see P W i g n a r a j a ( ed ) . T h e Ne Six ml Movement*, in th e South, L o n d o n : Ze d Ho o ks .1993. Andr Gunder Frank has shown many ove r l app ing s be twe e n th e 'old ' and ' n e w ' m o v e m e n t s , se eA G Fra nk & M Fue n t e s , ' N i n e theses on new social movements ' , Newsletter o f International iMhourStudies, 34 , J u l y 1987 . Neverthe less , many au thors have focused on the s t r ugg l e fo r iden t i ty a nd m e a n i n gas the focal poin t of the new social m o v e m e n t s , see tor example , A Mel l ucc i , 'The new social move me n t s :a theore t ical approach ' , Social Si leiu c Information. 1 9 ( 2 ) , 1980. pp I99-226; A Tou ra in , Th e Voice an d th eEye: A n Analssis o f Social Movements , C a m b r i d g e : Cambr idge U nive r s i t y Press , 19 77 ; Fried m an n , 'Thed i a l e c t i c o f re ason ' , and Fr i e dmann , 'The L a t i n A m e r i c a n barrio m o v e m e n t '29 A Gramsci , Prison Notebook*, N e w Y o r k : I n t e r na t io na l P ub l i she r s , 1971 , p 109."' This sort ol ' m o r a l ' jus t i f ica t ion , which I believe largely guides th e ac t i v i t i e s ol ord in a ry men and w o m e n ,d i s t ances my perspect ive f rom those o l others such as James Scott , who seem to base t he i r a n a l y s i s on' r a t ion a l choice ' theories. For a sharp c r i t i que of Scott 's f r a m e w o r k see T M itc h e l , "Everyday mtaphoresof power', Theorv an d Sonets, 19 , 1990, pp 545-577. However , I do not deny the fact tha t actors also reactr a t i o na l ly to the s t ruc tu r e of oppor tu n i t ies In o t he r w o r d s w h e n I he social and pol i t ica l contex t c h a n g e s , i l k -form and rationale of people's act iv i t ies may a lso shift.11 See S Tar row , Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective At l ion, un d Poliiu s , C a m b r i d g e -Cambr idge U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1994.12 See F Piven & R C i o w a r d , Po o r Peoples ' Movements: W h \ Thev Su eed, H H The\ I ml. New Y o r k :Vintage Books, 1979, p 24."Here I use the concept of legit imacy in the We b e n a n sense14 For the case ol I r a n , se e Baya t , Street Polnn s , ch 5. For the I n d i a n case see J Lessinger , 'Nobody here toyell a t me : pol i t ica l a c t i v i s m a m o n g petty t raders in an I n d i a n c i t y ' , in S Pe at t ae r (e d ) , Markets innlMarketing Monographs in l-Aonoimi Anthropology, Vol 4, Boston. 1985; and H Spodek , 'The Selle m p l o y e d W o m e n ' s A s s o c i a t i o n ( S I W A ) i n I n d i a : f e m i n i s t , ( i a n d h i a n p o w e r i n m o v e m e n t ' , EconomnDevelopment and Cultural Channe, 4 3 ( 1 ) , 1994. For the Br i t ish case, see J Hin ton , ' M i l i t a n t house wive sth e Bri t i sh h o u s e w i v e s ' L e a g u e ( m i l ) and (he All ie g o v e r n m e n t ' , Hisiors Workshop Journal, ?8 , 1994. Fo rthe Pe ru v ia n experience , see H De Solo. T h e Oilier Path, and lor M e x i c o Ci t y see J Cross , ' O i g . i i i i / a i i o na n d res is tance i n the i n f o r m a l e c o n o m y ' .'" See J N e lson , Access to Power: I'olun s und the Urban Poor in Developing Nations, Pr in c e ton , NJ:Prince ton Un iv e r s i ty Press, 1979, Leeds H i Leeds, ' Ac c ou n t in g fo r be ha v io ra l d i f fe re nce s' ; H i e i i e n .' U r b a n i s a t i o n a n d Thi rd Wor ld i n s t a b i l i t y '70


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POLITICS OF THE ' I N F O R M A L PEOPLE'16 For the case of I r a n see Bayat, Street Politics. Fo r Cairo, se e Abdel Taher, 'Social i den t i ty and class i n uCairo n e i g h b o r h o o d ' , a l so sec O k l h a n i i'l at, ' I n f o r m a l c o m m u n i t i e s i n C . i u o th e b a s i s of a t ypo logy ' , CairoI'upers in Soi "'/ * > ' < lence, 10(4), 1987. By the ea r ly 1990s, I m b a b a , a C a i r o s l u m , ha d developed, accordingto the m e d i a , 'a s ta te w i t h i n th e s l a t e ' a s a r e su l t of the in f luence of I s l a m is t m i l i t a n t s w ho were p l a y i n g

on the absence of the s ta te i n th e c o m m u n i t y17 E Durkheim, T h e Disis ion n j ' Labor in Society, New York : ha-c Press, 1971 and S Freud, Civilization an dIt s Discontents. New York : WW Nor ton , 1961 , represent ear ly co m m enta tors on the issue . Others i n c l u d eS i m m e l , 'The s t ranger ' ; Park . ' H u m a n m i g r a t i o n a nd t h e m a rg in a l man' ; Stonequis t , 'The problem ofmarg ina l man ' ; and Wir th . 'U rban i sm as a way o f l i f e ' .'* Pe r lman , The Msth o f Marginalia; Cas i e l l s , ( 'niex an d th e (Ira.ssroots. See a l so C Ve le /Tbane / , Rituals o fMarginality: Politu - , l'un es s ami Cultural Change in Urban Central Mexico. 1969-1974. Berkeley, CA:Unive r s i ty of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1983.w H D e Solo a lso f i n d s th e 'me rcan t i l i s t ' s t r u c t u r e of th e s la te a nd ' b ad l aws ' in many developing count r iesto be respons ible for the g rowth of ' i n f o r m a i s ' . H e refers to ' m e r c a n t i l i s m ' as a s ta te of a f f a i r s m wh i c hth e economy is r un by poli t ica l c on s ide r a t ion s , t h u s c o n c l u d i n g tha t th e i n f o r m a l sector re f lec t s people'sdes i r e for a f ree market as an a l t e rna t ive to the t y r a n n y of the state. D e Soto, T h e Other Path. However ,De Solo 's I.isc i n a l ion w i th th e free m a r k e t .is a solut ion to the economic prob lems o f th e Third Worldappears to b l i nd him to other fac tors wh i c h c o n t r i b u t e to the creat ion of i n f o r m a l i t y . For ins tance , in theUSA, where m e r c a n t i l i s m ha rd ly ex i s t s , i n f o r m a l i t y h.is appeared. I n a d d i t i o n , he i gnores th e f a c t that m a r k e tm e c h a n i s m s t h e m s e l v e s t o n l a n d , lo r i n s t ance ) have cont r ibuted to the creat ion of i n fo rma l communi t i e s . Fora more comprehens ive a n a lys i s of i n fo rm a l en te rp r i s es , a l t h o u g h not i n f o r ma l i t y as such , see A Portes, MCa s ie l l s & I . Be n lon ( ed s ) . T h e Informal l . toiionis Studies in Advanced m id Less Developed Countries,B a l t i m o r e . M D : J o h n s H o p k i n s Un iv e r s i ty Press, 1989. On the somehow au tonom ous cha r ac te r of i n fo rma la c t i v i t i e s scv , i lso N H o p k i n s ( e d ) , ' I n f o r m a l sector i n E g y p t ' , Cairo Papers in Social Science 14(4), 1992.40 See Fr iedmann , 'The dialectic of reason'. For a crit ique of Fr iedmann ' s romanticisat ion of barr iosm o v e m e n t , see I ) P . i lma , ' C o m m e n t s on J o h n i T i e d m a n n ' s "The d i a l e c l k o f re ason" ', International Journalof Urban an d Regional Research, 13(3) , 1989; B Rober ts , 'Comments on John Fr iedmann 's "The d i a l e c t i cof reason"'. International Journal o f Urban and Regional Rescanh, 13(3) . 1989; and A Toura ine ,' C o m m e n t s o n J o h n F r i e d m a n n ' s " Th e d ia le c t i c of reason" ', International Journal o f Urban and RegionalResearch. 13(3), 1989.41 See A Gilbe r t & P W a r d , C o m m u n i t y a c t ion by the u r b a n poor : democrat ic i n v o l v e m e n t , c o m m u n i t ys e l l h e l p or a m e a n s ol sou. i l c o n t r o l ' . World l)e\elo/tiiient. 12(8) , 1984.' ' I n l e r e s i m g l y . s i m i l a r l a n g u a g e s ee m s to be used i n L a t i n A m e r i c a . A s M i g u e l D i a / Bar r i ga reports , ' form a n y c o l o n s | i n M e x i c o Ci ly l i nvo lved i n u r b a n p o l i t i c s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o l c u l t u r e a n d power a r e a r t i cu l a t edt h r o u g h necesidad', or necess i ty See M Bar r iga . 'NtCtsUtUk notes on the discourse of urban pol i t i cs in theAjusco foothills of Mexico City', American Ethnologist , 23(2) , 1996, p 291.41 For the l i t e r a t u r e on th e moral economy of the poor see E P Thompson . Customs in Com m on , London :P engu in Books , 1 9 9 * .44 On the ' c ance rous ' g r o w t h of s p o n t a n e o u s s e t t l e m e n t s see v a r i o u s i ssues of AI-Ahrain, analysed in Tawf iq ,Discou r se a n a lys i s o f i n f o r m a l h o u s i n g i n Egypt ' .45 The term w as b r o u g h t to my a t t e n t ion for the f i r s t t i m e by Professor Ayce Uncu of B o g h a / i c h i Un ive r s i ty .I s t a n b u l , d u r i n g a J o i n t C o n f e r e n c e of Turk i sh -Egyp t i an s cho la r s held i n Cai ro i n Spr ing 1991 . A l t h o u g hm y d e f i n i t i o n is e n t i r e ly d if ferent f rom hers , neve r the les s , 1 . u n i n d e b t e d to her for the use of the te rm here .46 See M F o u c a u l t . Pos\er/Knossledfte, N ew York: Pantheon Books. 1976.47 See C Lis & H Soly , 'Ne ighbourhood socia l c h a n g e i n West European cit ies: Kith to 1 9 t h c e n t u r i e s ' .International Review o j Soual l/ision. ?8( I ) , 1992. pp LS-18.4* See A Marcus . The Midil lc l.tisi o n th e A i r oj Moderints- Aleppo in th e 18th Century. New York : ColumbiaUn iv e r s i ty Press, 1989.4'' D u r i n g th e ear ly 1990s , th e h a c k s t reets ol I m h a b a , a poor neighborhood in Cairo were pract ica l ly taken overa n d c on t ro l l e d by the I s l a m i s t a u m s l s and the r i v a l l o c . i l /iiiuunal g roups . T o c o u n t e r th e perceived threati n the loca l i ty , not o n l y did the g o v e r n m e n t a t t e m p t to c l e a n s e i t ol the I s l a m i s t s , i t a lso h a d to t r a n s lo imthese types ol local i t ies by 'opening them u p ' , ( e g w i d e n i n g a l l e y wa y s ) m a k i n g them t r anspa ren t to states u rv e i l l a n c e . This po l i cy ol ' ope n ing up ' and t r anspa rency was a lso pract i sed d u r i n g the c o lon ia l t ime ; s eeT M i t c h e l . Colonizing l-g\pt, C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1988. pp 46, 66 .50 See C Til ly, l-roni Mobilization to Revolution. R e a d i n g . M A: A d d i s o n Wesley Publ ishing. 1978. pp 62-69.51 See P B o u r d i e u , ' W h a t m a k e s .1 soc ia l c lass ' On the theoret ica l and p r a c t i c a l e x i s t a n c e o f g r o u p s ' . Herkele\Journal oj Sociologv, 32, 1987; a nd Bourdieu . 'The socia l space a nd th e g e n e s i s ol g r o u p s ' . I/icon an dSoucis. 14 ( 6 ) . 1985.I n de e d e x p l a i n i n g the l i n k be twe e n s t r u c t u r e / i n t e r e s t s > c o n s c i o u s n e s s a c t i o n is s t i l l ,i m a jo r pre occupat ion of sociology. For a review of debates , se e C r o m p t o n . Class an d Straii/uaiioii ' An Introduction toCurrent Debate, O x f o r d : Pol i ty Press. 1993 A m o n g th e c o n t r i b u t o r s to (he deba te a re Ti l ly , l-romMobili:alion to Resolut ion; B a r r i n g t o n Moore , ht/usine- So t m l Hosis o/ Obedience und Revolt , New York :Sharpe, 1978; and N Smelser . A I'lieors o/ Collet rive lielitnior. New York: Free Press. 1971 .

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ASEF B A Y A TM A ccord ing to Sidney Tar row: '. . t ransforming a grievance in to a col lect ive action is never au tomat ic; a greatdeal of c o m m u n i c a t i o n and c o n s c i o u s p l a n n i n g is i nvo lve d as we l l ' . S Tar row , Power in Mmement, p 49.Like Ti l ly , who deve lops concepts of 'opportun i ty /repression ' and resource m o b i l i s a t i o n , Tar row a l soin t roduces the e le me n t o l ' s t r u c t u r e s o l oppo r t un i t y ' to me d ia t e be twe e n o rg an i sa t ion a n d a i t u mM Ti l ly ' s concept of collect ive act ion is ve ry much cond i t ione d by h is not ion ol ' r ep res s i on ' Thus, in hissche me , g o v e r n m e n t s , lo r i n s t an c e , ca n eas i ly seal oi l the streets or declare m a r t i a l l aw to suppre ss p u b l i cd e m o n s t r a t i o n s This m ay indeed happen . However , because his model lacks a conce pt ol the ' passiven e t w o r k ' , it cannot envisage th e p o s s i b i l i t y ol mass ac t ion b y o r d i n a r y people on the s t ree ts un le s s t he y h a v edeve loped in tense in te rpersonal in te r ac t ions55 Re g iona l e s t imat e s b y I he n o lor 1975 pu t open u n e m p l o y m e n t a t 6.9% fo r Asia ( e x c e p t fo r C h i n a and othercentral ly p lanned economies); 10 S'/! lo r A fr i ca and 6.5% fo r Lat in America. A Gilbert & J Gugle r , ( 'mes.Poverty ami Development. Oxfo rd : Ox fo rd Un ive rs i t y Press, 1982, p 67.56 See for i n s t ance J Vandemoor t e le , 'The Africa n em ploym ent cr is is of Ihe 1980s', in C Gre y-Johnson l e d ) ,T h e Kmp/o\menl ('run in AJ'riia l\\itc

asef bayat: un-civil society: the politics of the 'informal people

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