ABSTRACT

Coalitional politics is being used by multiple urban social movements – and agencies that support their work – to address the scale and nature of disadvantage in towns and cities of the Global South. To advance our understanding about how coalitions might form and function effectively, this paper introduces and analyses four diverse exemplars that illustrate the approaches used. We find that coalitions have the potential to improve the relational capital of disadvantaged residents, increasing the legitimacy of their claims, advancing their interests and leading to pro-poor reforms. Coalitions enhance existing political opportunities and potentially improve the political opportunity structure. However, context matters, particularly the nature and extent of local democracy, and coalitions must operate in a space that is circumscribed and contested.

摘要

多个城市社会运动——以及支持他们工作的机构——正在利用联合政治来解决全球南方城镇和城市中劣势的规模和性质。为了加深我们对联盟如何有效形成和运作的理解，本文介绍并分析了四个不同的范例，这些范例说明了所使用的方法。我们发现联盟有可能改善弱势居民的关系资本，增加他们主张的合法性，促进他们的利益并导致有利于穷人的改革。联盟增加了现有的政治机会，并可能改善政治机会结构。然而，背景很重要，尤其是地方民主的性质和范围，联盟必须在一个受限制和有争议的空间内运作。