Imagining futures in the margins of the state: everyday politics in urban communities in Trinidad and Zimbabwe

This multi-sited, collaborative project investigates the conditions and relations of future-making in impoverished urban communities in the Global South: in Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and East Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. Guided by our interlocutors, the project queries the relationship between the state and its urban margins with the purpose of producing and sharing new knowledge about everyday politics in communities that are distanced from political discussions and decision-making at the national level. We contribute to our interlocutors’ efforts to produce positive change in their communities by co-constructing platforms for local people to voice their ideas, hopes, and critiques in formats that are easily accessible to the communities themselves, but also to policymakers in the government or to local NGOs. Such formats include a series of podcasts aired on local radio stations; spoken word; and an exhibition based on photovoice. We write accessible policy papers, blog posts, and scholarly publications on the basis of the collaboratively produced material. The overarching research question initiating our inquiry is ‘What kinds of social relations shape and facilitate everyday politics and future-making in marginalised urban communities?’