Annotated bibliography on urban politics and political economy in African cities

Working Paper 3

Lewis Abedi Asante

December 2021

Abstract

Produced as part of the inception phase of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), this bibliography provides a starting point into the investigation of the politics and political economy of African cities. Based on an extensive desktop search and review of relevant literature on the politics and political economy of African cities, it is split into seven sections, covering: the global political economy of African cities; the politics of urban infrastructure; governing African cities; elections, party politics and elite bargaining; the political sociology of African cities; civil society and popular agency; and crime, violence and conflict. Each section and sub-section has a summary laying out what is covered by the existing literature and where the research gaps lie, followed by the bibliographic entries themselves. The list of publications in each section begins with general overview studies, followed by comparative research studies and then single-city or -country case studies. Web-links have been provided for all publications for ease of reference. 

Keywords

Urban politics, political economy, African cities, urban infrastructure, party politics, urban violence, material politics, urban governance