My article forms part of a special issue on Political Change in African Cities, edited by Kristian Hoelscher, @taibatlawanson.bsky.social and Jeffrey Paller. Check out the other articles that are already out, and watch this space for the full issue: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... (9/9)

The Kenyan case also underlines the destructive effects of a general perception of the urban poor as a security risk: election-related violence in these cities also includes police brutality and extrajudicial killings of real or perceived criminal elements during election periods. (8/9)

I complement the statistical analyses with qualitative insights from low-income areas of Nakuru and Nairobi, two rapidly growing Kenyan cities. The dynamics of contestation in these neighbourhoods align with my overall argument but also underline the importance of local context and history. (7/9)

Extended analysis indicates that urban growth is associated with a higher risk of election violence in larger, more established cities (including both major and secondary cities), but not in the smallest cities. This is in line with arguments that ‘new cities’ feature distinct urban politics. (6/9)

My analysis also underlines that factors like political importance and city size are stronger predictors of electoral violence, and that context-specific dynamics condition the effects of urban growth. (5/9)

In my statistical analyses, I identify a robust positive correlation between the pace of population growth and the risk of electoral violence in the city. The results hold when controlling for city size, media freedom, and socioeconomic factors that could affect both urban growth and violence. (4/9)

While many previous studies of urban growth and violence have focused only on major cities (and generally found little evidence of such a relationship), I include a broader range of smaller and larger cities across Africa, enabling new insights. (3/9)

While urbanization holds a strong potential for progress and democracy-enhancement, rapid urban growth can also sharpen political competition and intensify urban grievances. I argue this can incentivise and enable political leaders to use violence to shape election outcomes. (2/9)

These findings make two important contributions: we provide new empirical evidence about the discontinuity in wartime and postwar urban violence, and develop and test theoretical arguments about how the transition from war to postwar shapes urban contestation, under different conditions. (5/5)

Instead, we find that politically important cities (national or regional capitals) and cities where the war ended through rebel victory, are more likely to see high levels of postwar violence. We connect this to the way that contestation remains, but motives and opportunites shift, after war. (4/5)

In our analyses, we find that the level of violence in the city during war is a poor predictor of postwar urban violence. If anything, cities that saw high wartime violence experience lower levels of postwar violence compared to other cities. (3/5)

Using cross-case and micro-level data, we study how both levels and dynamics of violence change from war to postwar. We analyse a dataset covering postwar cities around the world, as well as novel micro-level data from five cities to study the dynamics of violence in more depth. (2/5)

About two-thirds of respondents (65%) say their work was either discontinued or significantly altered as a result of the funding cuts. Long-term projects, collaborative research with colleagues in other countries, and networks that have been built up over time are particularly impacted.

67% say that their incentives to include researchers from the Global South were negatively affected and 38% reported that their research teams’ structure has changed because of the funding cuts.

Some key findings: 53% of the respondents in research/academia have adjusted their research in response to the funding cuts. 33% of respondents say they have changed their research topics, and 20% have shifted geographical research focus.

While you're there, check out CHRIPS' other reports - in depth and insightful analyses of insecurity and human rights in Kenya: chrips.or.ke/category/pub...