"The chapters of this book were originally presented as draft papers at the conference 'The politics of urban poverty, exclusion and violen ce: comparative analysis and policy insights,' organized in The Hague o n 27 and 28 September 2007"--P. vii.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-194) and index.

The rise of megacities and the urbanization of informality, exclusio n and violence / Dirk Kruijt and Kees Koonings -- From popular movement s to drug gangs to militias : an anatomy of violence in Rio de Janeiro / Robert Gay -- Megacity's violence and its consequences in Rio de Jane iro / Janice Perlman -- Coping with urban violence : state and communit y responses to crime and insecurity in Guayaquil, Ecuador / Caroline Mo ser -- Middle Eastern megacities : social exclusion, popular movements and the quiet encroachment of the urban poor / Asef Bayat -- Urban gove rnance and the paradox of conflict / Jo Beall -- Shoot the citizen, sav e the customer : participatory budgeting and bare citizenship in Porto Alegre, Brazil / Sâergio Baierle -- Crisis of the state, violence in th e city / Mariano Aguirre -- Urban exclusion and the (false) assumptions of spatial policy reform in South Africa / Susan Parnell and Owen Cran kshaw -- Conclusions : governing exclusion and violence in megacities / Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt.