Towards Urban Coalitions: The Politics of Grassroots Social Movements and Housing Struggles

Abstract

Cities have structurally been sites of encounter where the state urban development aspiration collides with the livelihoods of the marginalised communities. This on the one hand is accompanied by incidence of violence displacement and on the other hand the rise of grassroot social movements. While social movements are increasingly considered an essential component of urban governance and urban development processes, little is known about the extent to which the collective actions of grassroot movement coalitions influence urban development space in Lagos and the politics they encounter. This paper contributes to this ongoing discourse, drawing insights from the grassroot mobilisation of the Nigeria Federation of Slum/Informal Settlement Dwellers (The Federation) in response to incidence of forced eviction and spatial displacement. In this paper, we explore the triggers for the grassroot social movement coalitions and the politics they encounter. We trace the historical evolutions of the Federation and the politics they mobilise through coalitions to navigate urban development space and claiming the right to housing. Our findings show that the state urban development aspiration and moblisation for housing justice triggered grassroot movements coalitions. This on the one hand serves as a grassroot counter response to urban development-induced displacement and on the other hand as government response to promote inclusion of the marginalised communities in urban development. The findings also reveal that the politics of grassroots social movements coalitions for housing justice is a space of encounters. This space of encounters fosters opportunities for dialogue, negotiation, collaboration, conflicts, contestation, resistance, empowerment, power struggles and polarisation among different actors – marginalised communities, grassroot social movements, NGOs and state agencies. We conclude that how grassroot movements navigate the space influence whether their collective actions enhance or constrain their struggle for housing justices and transformative urban development.