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SUMMARY:Urban governance as labour rights: The case of transport workers i
 n Dar es Salaam\, Tanzania - Dr Matteo Rizzo\, Smuts Researcher in African
  Studies\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20110606T113000Z
DTEND:20110606T130000Z
UID:TALK30102@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hubertus Juergenliemk
DESCRIPTION:Policy makers' thinking and interventions to promote good gove
 rnance in developing countries' cities rest squarely on neoliberal thinkin
 g. Decentralization\, the increased "voice" of (market-friendly) civil soc
 iety in the policy process\, and the promotion of family\, neighbourhood\,
  and other informal support mechanisms\, are central to their strategies\,
  whilst economic liberalization\, deregulation and privatization are deeme
 d to be the most efficient way to deliver economic growth in cities.\n\nTh
 is paper will expose the inadequacy of this mainstream approach through th
 e study of the politics of governance in the passenger transport system of
  Dar es Salaam\, Tanzania's largest city. It focuses in particular on the 
 politics of its workforce. Dar es Salaam is a city with over 3 million peo
 ple. Less than 20 public buses and over 7\,000 private buses supply its pa
 ssenger transport. About 30\,000 informal\, and highly exploited\, wage wo
 rkers operate these private buses. Having shown the causal link between wo
 rkers' "problems" and urban transport "problems"\, the paper reflects on t
 he efforts\, dilemmas and partial achievements in claiming labour rights f
 or the transport workforce. By contrasting these real attempts to address 
 urban problems through better governance with the neoliberal fantasy of it
 \, the paper underlines the mainstream's failure to analyze urban capitali
 sm\, and the social and economic relations that cause urban problems. It t
 herefore calls for a contextualized understanding of issues of power\, aut
 hority\, and exploitation when studying\, or trying to bring about\, (urba
 n) good governance.\n\nDiscussant: Dr Alastair Fraser
LOCATION:Senior Common Room\, 17 Mill Lane\, Cambridge CB2 1RX
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