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In the world of finance capital, rent represents a ‘lack of risk’. Rent also represents strong ownership in the world of finance capital which effaces ownerships. This talk would draw from the larger question that the speaker is asking in her forthcoming manuscript titled ‘Properties of Rent’ – What is the role of rent in shaping our global cities? She delves into this through looking at Jat dominated urban villages of Delhi, which have evolved into an unregulated economy of rental properties, residential and commercial, organised and managed by a thick notion of community.

This talk focuses on the relationship of these urban villages with the state, which is largely mediated through the question of regulation. We have witnessed a gradually increasing attention of the state on these villages in the form of ‘regulation’, which is consistently resisted by the community. The speaker argues that regulation is not merely an impetus of a state’s project, but also that of capital. Villagers fear that the coming of the state, through its regulations, would also usher in capital, with its facelessness, which will not only loosen their economic hold, but also their own identity.

This is the hundred and thirty-eighth in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society and politics. For further information, please contact: Aprajita Sarcar of CSH at aprajita[dot]sarcar[at]csh-delhi[dot]com, Mukta Naik at mukta[at]cprindia[dot]org or Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie[hyphen]helene[dot]zerah[at]ird[dot]fr.