Mute Vol 2, No. 3 − Naked Cities: Struggle in the Global Slums
According to UN research data, by 2030 half of the world's population will be living in slums. Meanwhile, in Durban's Kennedy Road settlement residents risk arrest and police violence in their struggle for toilets and drinking water. The statistics are not supposed to talk back. This issue of Mute has largely been sparked by Mike Davis’ claim that in the mega-slums Muhammad and the Holy Ghost have superseded Marx. Here we consider another view of the world’s burgeoning ‘naked cities’. Where the populace are refugees without rights or basic amenities, are new forms of political action emerging?
FURTHER DESCRIPTION
21st Century Noir
Iain Boal reviews Mike Davis' Planet of the Slums
Thinking Resistance in the Shanty Town
Richard Pithouse, contra Mike Davis, discusses the powerful 'politics of the poor'
Slumsploitation
Melanie Gilligan on the spectacularisation of the favela in Brazilian films and TV
Lies and Mendacity
Demetra Kotouza exposes Britains 'diffuse workhouse' and its Victorian precursor
Thriving on Adversity
Anna Dezeuze on the artistic celebration of slum creativity
Demolishing Delhi
Amita Baviskar on the bulldozing of Delhi's slums in preparation for the Commonwealth Games
Extracting Value from the City
Rachel Weber on the state's vital role in ensuring the profitability of urban real estate
'We are Ugly, But We are Here': Hiati Special
Introduction: Anthony Iles
UN Liberating Hiati
Kevin Pina gives an overview of electoral tumult in Hiati
Tourist
Poem by Felix Morriseau-Leroy
Keep on Keepin' On
A selection of poems by Josaphat-Robert Large
Thames Gateway Special
Introduction: Another Green World by Benjamin Seymour
Great Expectations
Penny Koutrolikou on the Thames Gateway's fractal governance and the ill effects for its residents
Blue Sky Over Blue Water
Michael Edwards analyses the likely outcome of the Thames Gateway Project and offers his own alternative vision.
ISSN 1356-7748
ISBN 978-1-906496-3-3
Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm
