Legitimacy: Ethnographic and Theoretical Insights (Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology)

Global in scope, this original and thought-provoking collection applies new theory on legitimacy and legitimation to urban life. An informed reflection on this comparatively new topic in anthropology in relation to morality, action, law, politics and governance is both timely and innovative, especially as worldwide discontent among ordinary people grows. The ethnographically-based analyses offered here range from banking to neighbourhoods, from poverty to political action at the grassroots. They recognize the growing gap between the rulers and the ruled with particular attention to the morality of what is right as opposed to what is legal. This book is a unique contribution to social theory, fostering discussion across the many boundaries of anthropological and sociological studies.-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements 6 Contents 7 Notes on Contributors 9 List of Figures and Table 14 Chapter 1: Ethnographies of Legitimacy: Methodological and Theoretical Insights 15 Rationale and Theoretical Grounding 20 Central Themes 23 Legitimacy: Theoretical Challenges of Keystone Processes 34 References 36 Chapter 2: On the Legitimacy of Democratic Representation: Two Case Studies from Europe 40 Legitimacy of Political Representation and Conflict of Truths 42 Challenges to Partitocrazia: Brindisi 46 The Law 142/90 and Electoral Reforms: The Hijacking of a New Political Approach 49 Integrity and Accountability in Local Administration 52 Dreams of a Better Life: Albanian Paths to Democratization 56 Perfecting Democracy: ‘Did you see the airport?’ 59 Conflicting Sources of Legitimacy 63 Conclusions 66 References 67 Chapter 3: Governance Without Legitimacy: An Italian Conundrum of Democracy 70 Introduction 70 Basic Considerations 73 Citizenship Is Bogged Down 75 New Rulers, Soiled Broom 79 Legitimacy, Morality and the Law: An Uneasy Relationship 87 Concluding Reflections 89 References 90 Chapter 4: Legitimating Poverty: The Minimum Guaranteed Income Pilot Case 96 Introduction 96 The Political Context 97 The Minimum Guaranteed Income 101 Poverty in Greece 103 Facing Poverty? 105 Discussion 111 References 115 Digital Sources 116 Chapter 5: Legal but Not Legitimate: The Changing Practices of Financial Citizenship in Turkey 117 Introduction 117 Between Legality and Legitimacy: How Do We Understand Financialization? 119 The Financial Field in Turkey 123 Illegal and Illegitimate 126 Legal and Still Illegitimate 129 Conclusion 131 References 132 Web Sites 135 Chapter 6: Changing Contours of Legitimacy in Neighbourhoods: Reflections from a Town in North Kerala 136 Urban Studies and the Study of Neighbourhoods 138 An Introduction to Two Neighbourhoods in Thalassery 139 Reciprocity, Legitimacy and Social Control 140 Dispute Resolution 145 Political Allegiance and Neighbourhoods 146 Shifting and Conflicting Ideas of Legitimacy in Neighbourhoods 148 Towards a Conclusion 150 References 151 Chapter 7: Privatization of Urban Governance and Legitimacy Disputes in a Social Housing Megaproject in Soacha, Colombia 155 A New City in a ‘Failed Municipality’ 155 The Context 158 Emerging Middle Classes and Private Housing in Colombia 158 Governance in Ciudad Verde: Beyond the Public- Private Dichotomy 159 Legitimacy in Ciudad Verde: Between Rule Enforcement and Rule Disregard 162 Rule Enforcement: Aesthetic and Behavioural Regulations 162 ‘Don’t Air Your Dirty (or Clean) Laundry in Public’ 165 Rule Disregard: Legitimizing the Illegal 167 Street Vendors: Contested Legitimacy 169 Final Considerations: Implications for Agency and Citizenship 172 References 175 Chapter 8: Undermining Governmental Legitimacy at the Grass Roots: The Role of Inflated Expectations of Community Accountability 178 Introduction 178 Part I: A Theoretical Outline 179 Part II: The 1960s’ Urban Crisis: Local Solutions to National Problems 181 Part III: Local Insights 183 Community Board 9, Crown Heights Rezoning (by Jerome Krase) 184 Community Board 6, Park Slope: Bike Lanes (by Kathryn Krase) 190 Summary and Conclusions 197 References 198 Chapter 9: Detachment and Commitment to Legitimacy: The Case of Viger Square in Montreal 202 Introduction 202 Viger Square 203 The Group-with-No-Name 206 Legitimacy and Neoliberal Public Spaces 209 Co-occurrence of Competitive Views of Legitimacy 214 Conclusion 219 References 220 Chapter 10: In or Out? Emerging Urban Practices of Citizenship in East Africa 225 Introduction 225 Devolving Power, Devolving Legitimacy, Devolving Corruption? 227 The Changing Spaces of Kisumu 233 Urban Agency and the Agency of Urbanity 235 Conclusions: Changing Ourselves by Changing Our City? 237 References 240 Chapter 11: Citizenship and Legitimacy: Kolkata’s Anglo-Indian Experiences 243 Introduction 243 Citizens as the Responsibility of the State 245 Who Are the Anglo-Indians? 246 Background to Constitutional Provisions 248 Anglo-Indians as Constitutional Citizens 249 Secularism in India 251 Bharatiya Janata Party 252 Demonetarisation Leading to Further Erosions 253 Example 1: The Current President-in-Chief of the AIAIA 255 Example 2: The Calcutta Anglo-Indian Service Society (CAISS) 260 Conclusions 262 References 263 Chapter 12: Conflicting Loyalties and Legitimate Illegality in Urban South Lebanon 266 Introduction 266 The Setting 267 Dark Glasses and Week-Long Beards on the Boulevard 269 Overlapping the Legally Legitimate Authority 271 The Unusual Taxi-Drivers’ Behaviour 274 Legitimizing the Illegal Encounter in Front of Restaurant XXX 276 Dwelling on Fragile Borders 279 Trusting the Illegal Entity 280 Concluding Remarks: The Clashing Shapes of Legitimacy 282 References 285 Chapter 13: Morality and Legitimacy in the Sewŏl Protest in South Korea 287 Legitimacy, Legality, and Dissent in Korea’s History 290 Field and Method 292 Preventable or Inevitable? Demanding a Proper Investigation 293 Abandoned Classrooms and Official Interventions 298 Corrupt or Immoral? 301 Conclusion 305 References 306 Chapter 14: Romani Political Participation and Legitimization of Power Relations in the Czech Republic 310 Introduction 310 Romani in the Czech Republic 312 Political Mobilisation in 1989 314 The Romani Political Participation After 1992 318 Romani Family in the Czech Republic 320 Romani Family Life and Political Behaviour 324 Conclusion 328 References 331 Index 334 Global in scope, this original and thought-provoking collection applies new theory on legitimacy and legitimation to urban life. An informed reflection on this comparatively new topic in anthropology in relation to morality, action, law, politics and governance is both timely and innovative, especially as worldwide discontent among ordinary people grows. The ethnographically based analyses offered here range from banking to neighbourhoods, from poverty to political action at the grassroots. They recognize the growing gap between the rulers and the ruled with particular attention to the morality of what is right as opposed to what is legal. This book is a unique contribution to social theory, fostering discussion across the many boundaries of anthropological and sociological studies--back cover