Dispossessed. Life in Our World's Urban Slums (review)

Dispossessed, Mark Kramer's first book, relates the story of real families that struggle with poverty and other social ills in five densely populated cities: Manila, Nairobi, Mexico City, Bangkok, and Cairo. He devotes a chapter to each city, underscoring the fact that though 'one billion people – or one in every three urban residents – now live in an urban slum,' most of us in developed nations still do not comprehend that half of the world lives on less than US$2.00 a day.

Kramer, a journalist and social advocate, states from the beginning the intentions of his book. First, he introduces us not just to cities but to the people who live and die in these settlements. By doing so, he 'puts names and faces to issues that affect millions of residents'. Second, he points out the most serious problems these people have yet to overcome: land rights, living conditions, informal economy, evictions, demolitions and so forth. He does not elaborate on these pressing issues, but cites other authors such as the renowned Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, who is working worldwide to integrate informal neighbourhoods into the formal sector.

The sociological and journalistic research done for this book makes it reliable and convincing to any one interested in global urbanisation. Kramer spent two to four weeks with each person and family he interviewed. He met Sammy and Joanne Seares in Balic-Balic, the Sampaloc district of Manila, a young couple with two children who constantly fears eviction (chapter 2). He talked with Imbumi Makuko, resident of Kibera, Kenya's largest community with at least 600,000 people, who through his nongovernmental organisation is developing churches and training clergy, giving them with resources on leadership, advocacy and social justice matters (chapter 3). In Mexico City he stayed with Aline, a mother of two boys, and met Letty and her family who live in Cartolandia (Land of Cardboard Boxes), Lomas de San Isidro, a colonia where disputes over landownership prevent its settlers to progress from progressing (chapter 4). In Bangkok, Sunee, a mother of one, hosted him warmly servingtheir meals on the floor of her home. There, Kramer met Yung and other residents of Klong Toey, a slum near the city where most people work for themselves as part of an underground economy, both illegal (prostitution, drugs) and legal (street vendors, small construction work), that characterises the informal sector in poor cities (chapter 5). In Cairo he met Ezzat Naim Guindly who lives in Mokattham, a massive illegal settlement in the city, where garbage is its most valuable material resource, but at the same time the cause of disease, pollution and emotional trauma (chapter 6).

The last chapter suggests ways for serving the urban poor. In Krame's words: 'If you reside in a developed nation and you truly wish to help the people you've read about, you must first personalise their suffering, take it on as your own. You must also reflect on how your own actions – your purchases, attitudes, and lifestyle – may, in fact, fuel their suffering. Only then can you act effectively to help the poorest of the poor in urban slums.'

Mark Kramer has contributed enormously to a better understanding of the conditions in which the world's urban poor live today. By letting them speak for themselves, Kramer has discredited misconceptions and stereotypes that are usually thrust upon them. Dispossessed no doubt will be appreciated by those working with NGOs and social work in urban areas.