{"product_id":"informal-cities-charlotte-vorms-9780226836010","title":"Informal Cities: Histories of Governance and Inequality in Latin Europe, Latin America, and Colonial North Africa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn empirically rich reconstruction of how informality became an intrinsic part of urban life across three continents.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Over a quarter of the world's urban population lives in informal settlements. While informality as a concept has been widely debated, we still know very little about the phenomenon's urban history or how that history has shaped the evolution of world cities. Spotlighting the historical processes that have created and sustained urban informality for more than a century, editors Charlotte Vorms and Brodwyn Fischer and this volume's contributors reveal informality as an intrinsic feature of urbanity, shaping not only cities across the globe but also deeper processes of state formation, socioeconomic stratification, and political struggle. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The volume brings together case studies spanning more than a hundred years, drawn from Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, and Mexico), Northern Africa (Morocco and Algeria), and Latin Europe (France, Spain, and Italy). Together, they show that informality is neither a contemporary crisis nor a predicament unique to the Global South. Topics include the origins of informal settlements and their relationship with law and institutional power; grassroots efforts to legitimize shantytown communities; mass social movements for rights to the city; the role that shantytown removal campaigns played in populist politics, fascism, and colonialism; and the ways that informality perpetuated racial and ethnic inequalities. \u003ci\u003eInformal Cities \u003c\/i\u003eis an indispensable guide to the complex and fraught terrain of urban informality in its many historical guises. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Charlotte Vorms\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226836010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226836010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/04\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs","brand":"Charlotte Vorms","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46927735226623,"sku":"9780226836010","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1518aa0b-8d93-4615-a6d0-08be4ec5a24d.jpg?v=1749372800","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/informal-cities-charlotte-vorms-9780226836010","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}