Squatter Life

“Through rich ethnographic work in which they peel through the layers of everyday encounters, Javier Auyero and Sofia Servián reveal the multiple, ambivalent, and complex informal ties that undergird life at the urban margins. Squatter Life will appeal to all those interested in the everyday life of the poor in Latin America and larger questions about the intersection of poverty, violence, and social relations in urban geographies across time and space.” -- Cecilia Menjívar, author of * Enduring Violence: Ladina Women’s Lives in Guatemala *
“I devoured this book. As Javier Auyero and Sofia Servián show, the daily struggle for land, shelter, food, and a minimum of physical security is always political: it entails engagement with the state and politicians and requires multiple forms of collective action. Because such engagement is informal and even illicit, political scientists like me often ignore it. But anyone seeking to understand poor people’s politics in Latin America must grapple with it. All those interested in contemporary Latin America should read this beautifully written book.” -- Steven Levitsky, coauthor of * How Democracies Die *