URBAN POWER, democracy and inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg

224pp., maps, paperback, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2024

ISBN: 9780691237121

Benjamin Bradlow on the effectiveness of urban governance in two “megacities” in young democracies: São Paulo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa, and why São Paulo has been more successful than Johannesburg in improving access to basic urban goods.

“Benjamin Bradlow offers a bold recipe for solving global poverty: strong states with ties to strong social movements can deliver public goods to the poorest of the world's poor. Through impressive fieldwork and clear conceptualizations, Bradlow gives us an answer to the most important question of our day. This book will launch an entirely new conversation in sociology.”Monica Prasad, author of The Land of Too Much

“Large cities in the Global South present us with tremendous contrasts: informal settlements next to luxury gated neighborhoods, heart-wrenching exclusion alongside innovative redistributive policies, and governing institutions that can seem simultaneously responsive and indifferent to popular demands. Benjamin Bradlow's landmark book compares attempts to reduce inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg in recent decades, while developing a framework of urban power that is sure to inspire further research and debate in many other contexts. Carefully researched and sharply argued, this book is a wonderful exemplar of what a truly global urban sociology can be.”Gianpaolo Baiocchi, author of We, the Sovereign

Benjamin H. Bradlow is Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University.