Refractions of the National, the Popular and the Global in African Cities

During the past decade, an extraordinary disconnect regarding the futures of states in sub-Saharan Africa has emerged: ‘Aspiring Africa, the world’s fastest growing continent’ (in the words of The Economist on its title page), on the one hand, and, in the words of an economist, ‘informalised and subsistence Africa, with swathes of survivalist pockets of existence, remains the overriding economic reality’ in these states, on the other.

A joint book manuscript ‘Conjuring majorities: life, infrastructure, and relational politics in the urban South’ (with AbdouMaliq Simone) will be completed.