Considering social and material resources: the political ecology of a peri-urban squatter community in Nepal

Political ecology research tends to focus on rural communities. However, the paradigm is also useful in understanding the ecologies of urban and peri-urban settlements. We argue, through a case illustration of a peri-urban squatter community in Nepal, that urban and peri-urban political ecology needs to explicitly recognize and analyze the relationships between material, natural, and social resources. Our case study demonstrates that material resources such as land and social resources such as education are inseparable in the everyday lives of slum dwellers. Additionally, the internalizing of negative stereotypes can profoundly shape social capital and relationships within communities and with power holders. These issues of identity need to be fully integrated into a political ecology analysis of squatter and slum communities.