Legitimacy Ethnographic and Theoretical Insights

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.

Chapter 1. Introduction: Methodological and Theoretical Issues of Legitimacy

Italo Pardo, University of Kent, UK, and Giuliana B. Prato, University of Kent, UK

Chapter 2. On the Legitimacy of Political Representation: Institutional Adaptations to Challenges from Urban Europe

Giuliana B. Prato, University of Kent, UK

Chapter 3.A Conundrum of Democracy: Naples as a Test Case of Governance that Lacks Legitimacy

Italo Pardo, University of Kent, UK

Manos Spyridakis, University of the Peloponnese, Greece

Chapter 5. Legal but not Legitimate: Changing Practices of Financial Citizenship in Turkey

Z. Nurdan Atalay Günes, Mardin Artuklu University, Turley

Chapter 6. Changing Ideas of Legitimacy in Neighbourhoods: Reflections from a Town in Kerala

Janaki Abraham, University of Delhi, India

Chapter 7. Privatization of Urban Governance and the Disputes for Legitimacy in a Social Housing Megaproject in Soacha, Colombia

Adriana Hurtado Tarazon, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Chapter 8. In or Out? Claims and Practices of Legitimacy in Urban East Africa

Lucy Koechlin, University of Basel, Switzerland

Chapter 9. Undermining Governmental Legitimacy at the Grass Roots: The Role of Failed Promises and Inflated Expectations of Community Accountability

Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, USA, and Kathryn Krase, LIU Brooklyn, USA

Chapter 10. Detachment and Commitment in the Competing Claims of Legitimacy Surrounding the Ephemeral Opposition to the Redesign of Viger Square, Montreal, Quebec

Nathalie Boucher, Organisme R.Es.P.I.R.E, Montreal, Canada

Chapter 11. Citizenship and Legitimacy in India: Kolkata’s Anglo-Indian Experiences

Robyn Andrews, Massey University, New Zealand

Chapter 12. Morality, Ethics and Legitimacy: The Roma and their Legitimization of Power Relations in Everyday Life

Zdenek Uherek, Charles University, Prague

Marcello Mollica, University of Messina, Italy

Chapter 14. Mourning Through Protest in Seoul: Debates over Governance, Morality and Legitimacy after the Sewol Ferry Disaster

Liora Sarfati, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Chapter 15. Legitimacy and Urbanities: Utilising the Durkheimian Perspective.
James Dingley, Gibson Institute, Queen’s University Belfast, UK