The urban poor often live in conditions where poverty is reinforced by conditions of informality and criminalization. Slum-dwellers, street vendors, waste-collectors and sex workers have sought to use the courts to improve their conditions and gain recognition for their right to livelihood, food and housing, and formalization of the means of achieving it. But even when they have succeeded in court, change on the ground is often lacking. This round-table discusses under which conditions poor and “informalized” people’s lawfare for livelihood can contribute to social change.
Chair: Pilar Domingo (ODI, UK)
Introductions by:
• Colombian waste collectors (Adriana Ruiz-Restrepo, CIVISOL)
• South African street vendors (Jackie Dugard)
• Malawian Sex-workers (Chrispine Sibande on Skype)
Participants in the debate include:, Judge Mumbi Ngugi; Judge Lilian Tibatemwa, Ingvild Skage (Comparative Politics, UiB), Malcolm Langford, Namita Wahi (Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, India)