The dynamics of displacement [electronic resource] : a study of slum dweller mobilization around urban evictions in Kurasini, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This dissertation adopts a case study approach to answer two related questions: first, what motivates slum dwellers in urban Africa to participate in social movement activities and, second, does social capital gained through participation in urban social movements influence post-eviction resettlement success? These two questions are explored through a detailed case study of Kurasini Ward, Dar es Salaam and participation in the Tanzania Federation of the Urban Poor (TFUP). Data was gathered between July 2007 and July 2008 through in-depth pre-eviction interviews with 102 slum dwellers, 64 of whom were re-interviewed six months after eviction. The dissertation's results show that property owners were significantly more likely than renters to participate in TFUP enumerations of soon to be evicted communities in Kurasini. The cost and risk of participating as an enumerator made it a strong measure of committed social movement participation. The dominance of owners in the ranks of enumerators is surprising since TFUP movement organizers expected renters to participate in greater numbers. The quantitative and qualitative results of the dissertation show that the participation of owners was favored over renters due to three factors: the nature of payoffs, belief in efficacy of action, and connection to place. Beyond these three, an additional motivational factor -- the relative balance of costs and benefits of participation -- favored the participation of owners with lower incomes over others. These findings can be understood in the context of Hirschman's (1970) Exit-Voice-Loyalty model, with which they show striking concurrence. With respect to post-eviction resettlement, the dissertation's results depart considerably from expectations. Six months after eviction, a significantly higher proportion of evictees reported worsened post-eviction employment conditions than reported worsened post-eviction housing. In fact, across all measures of post-eviction housing -- physical setting, tenure security, cost, and settlement type -- a majority of evictees reported improved conditions. These findings are surprising, since the TFUP movement focused their mobilization efforts around the negative housing-related impacts of the eviction. Interviews with evictees provided a compelling explanation for the negative employment outcomes arising from eviction, which saw TFUP members fare significantly worse than non-members. Interviewees argued these outcomes resulted from TFUP members' decisions to delay their own housing searches in the hope the movement would secure a grant of land for resettlement. TFUP membership conditioned evictees' resettlement expectations and adversely influenced their strategies for securing post-eviction housing. The data suggest that the decision of TFUP members to defer their housing searches may be understood in the context of theory on "escalation of commitment." The dissertation's results demonstrate that women fared more poorly than men in post-eviction resettlement. Although the majority of households reported improved post-eviction household incomes, women's individual pay within the family fell after eviction. This reflects women's greater likelihood of working in the eviction zone prior to resettlement, and therefore having to relocate both their housing and employment. It also reflects the greater network dependency of most women's pre-eviction jobs, particularly petty trading. The dissertation develops a number of policy relevant conclusions. The first is that, even when a group may appear cohesive, there may exist powerful cleavages capable of significantly influencing people's willingness to participate in collective action. In terms of social movement participation, the most important cleavage was between owners and renters. This suggests that close attention needs to be paid by policy makers to owner/renter status, the psychological and behavioral implications of which are often underappreciated. The results also demonstrate that movement organizers must be certain that the payoffs they believe are important are those actually motivating participation. In this study, organizers mobilized a significantly different group than intended. For those hoping to engage communities, this outcome should serve as a powerful lesson: payoffs matter and, while not solely responsible for participation, are critical to shaping behaviour. The results also show that the expectations of movement members can be strongly shaped by the rhetorical and strategic focus of a mobilization effort. When the effort does not produce expected results, this can leave movement participants confronting worse circumstances than they might otherwise have faced. This points to a need to better understand the dynamics of unsuccessful movements, a subject little considered in the social movement and international development literatures to date.

Advisor: Ortolano Leonard primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Weinstein Jeremy M. primary advisor. Thesis advisor
McAdam Doug advisor. Thesis advisor