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Political Economy of Expulsionary Urbanization: Subsumption and Estrangement of Spaces in Pakistan

Author

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  • Danish Khan

Abstract

This article forwards the notion of “expulsionary urbanization†to explain processes of urban transformation in Pakistan against the backdrop of neoliberal regime of accumulation. The concept of expulsionary urbanization emphasizes that the production of new urban spaces is predicated on the theft of space, where one segment of the society appropriates space from another. On the one hand, expulsionary urbanization facilitates capital accumulation by creating new gated housing enclaves; on the other hand, it produces spatial estrangement for the marginalized groups. To delineate processes of spatial commodification, the article reintroduces the conceptual category of “subsumption of space†by capital, that is, capital’s drive to valorize itself by transforming land into a form of a fictitious capital. JEL Classification : B51, B55, B50, B52, A14

Suggested Citation

  • Danish Khan, 2022. "Political Economy of Expulsionary Urbanization: Subsumption and Estrangement of Spaces in Pakistan," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 461-478, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:54:y:2022:i:4:p:461-478
    DOI: 10.1177/04866134221093748
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Mizuoka, Fujio, 1991. "Subsumption of Space into Society," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 32(2), pages 71-89, December.
    6. Nadeem Ul Haque, 2015. "Flawed Urban Development Policies in Pakistan," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:119, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    7. Vamsi Vakulabharanam, 2005. "Growth and Distress in a South Indian Peasant Economy During the Era of Economic Liberalisation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 971-997.
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    9. Charalampos Konstantinidis, 2016. "The Neoliberal Restructuring of Agriculture and Food in Greece," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 48(4), pages 544-552, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Danish Khan, 2025. "Reformulating theories of ‘accumulation by dispossession’: ‘Contested accumulations through displacement’ in postcolonial Punjab, Pakistan," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 57(2-3), pages 203-222, May.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • B55 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Social Economics
    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics

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