Abstract
Scholars of global governmentality and the neo/liberal project in Africa have exposed the ambitions of change directed at individual, institutional, societal, political and economic levels contained within international development policies. This article examines international agendas and interventions in the realm of housing and urban governance in Africa, as a distinct component of broader ambitions to build liberal states and civil societies. International development policy today includes a specific focus on African cities, most visible in ‘slum upgrading’ policies. In order to reveal the politics and specificity of current international urban policy the article traces a longer trajectory of the mentality and ambition of Western powers with regard to the government of African cities, from one of racial exclusion to homeownership on the basis of self-help and in a framework of private property relations and market provision—the core building blocks of a liberal social order.
Published Version
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