Displacement, Revolution, and the New Urban Condition: Theories and Case Studies

The book provides an understanding of urban change and the displacement that it entails of people and their labour. It examines the third world urban condition in the context of globalisation. Focusing on the Sabarmati River Front Development Project, it discusses the conceptual world of urban politics, Marxist theories on displacement, gentrification theory and Lefebvre’s ‘right to the city’. It argues that the theories that emerged in Euro-America require some rethinking when applied in the context of cities of the third world. It thus exposes the urban contradictions that are to be found at the global level while discussing urban displacement and the nature of the politics of resettlement and resistance, pointing out that theory and practice often do not match.