The politics and anti-politics of shelter policy in Chennai, India

Abstract

Many scholars argue that global forces, such as increased economic integration into the global economy or interventions from international aid agencies, are directly affecting the governance of municipalities. This paper explores the process by which international influences affect local governance by using the history of a single institution, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board in Chennai, India, and examining the evolution of the Board's policies towards slums and slum clearance from 1970 to the present. In its early years, state level political party incentives determined the shelter policies of the Board. The World Bank donated significant amounts of money to the Board for projects in low- income shelter provision between 1975 and 1996, and attempted to significantly change shelter sector policies in the city. However, the Bank faced a great deal of resistance in imposing reforms on the Board. It was not until they radically changed institutional structures within the Board to cut ties with local political parties that they were able to successfully implement policy reform. The history of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board suggests that institutional structures are of great importance when trying to understand the way in which international influences affect local governance.