0

Informality for Transformative spaces reimagined for the Global South, Mungekar et al

Transformative spaces are often understood as experimental environments where diverse actors can come together to confront systemic challenges, co-create future visions, and prototype new ways of working. Their strength lies in fostering deliberation, trust, and openness across sectors and knowledge systems. But their effectiveness depends heavily on context.

In India, participatory processes are frequently caught between performance and politics. Actors may fear political reprisal or default to institutional silence. Even in ostensibly ‘inclusive’ spaces, entrenched hierarchies—of gender, expertise, and seniority—can inhibit meaningful dialogue. As a result, many participatory platforms fall short of being truly transformative. Recognising this, we asked: how can transformative spaces be reimagined to suit socio-political landscapes where formal openness alone isn’t enough?

Our paper, ‘Nurturing transformative spaces to challenge technocratic hegemony: Leveraging informality in Indian cities’, explores what it takes to adapt these spaces to such realities. Focusing on the cities of Bhopal and Bhuj, we argue that transformation cannot rely solely on structured, formal processes. Instead, it must be rooted in informality.

Informality—characterised by relationality, flexibility, and tacit understanding—can reconfigure transformative spaces to make them more relevant and functional in these settings. In India, informality is already a dominant mode of governance, shaping how services are delivered, how decisions are made, and how actors relate to one another. It exists not outside the system, but within and around it, often enabling progress where formal rules falter.

Our research identifies three parameters of informality that can help nurture transformative capacities in challenging environments:

1. Cultivating confidence to challenge regressive power structures,
2. Fostering frugality and creativity, and
3. Instilling faith in the transformation.

In our Water4Change (W4C) workshops, we consciously departed from traditional formats. We designed food fairs and peer-led unsupervised classroom settings as ‘safe-enough’ spaces that encouraged honest dialogue and reflection. In these environments, participants voiced concerns about institutional resistance, reframed water-related problems, and imagined governance alternatives grounded in their everyday realities.

Our findings suggest that transformation is not just about changing what people do, but how they relate to one another—how they reflect, build confidence, and act. In that sense, transformative spaces are not merely procedural; they are deeply relational. The informal dimensions we introduced didn’t just complement formal processes—they redefined them. By adapting structured approaches like Transition Management to include informal modes of interaction, we can enable more inclusive, grounded, and politically attuned governance transitions. Especially in the Global South, where hierarchy and risk-aversion are ever-present, informality offers not just a workaround—but a way forward.

CITATION:

Mungekar, N., Janssen, A., Hölscher, K., & Loorbach, D. (2025). Nurturing transformative spaces to challenge technocratic hegemony: Leveraging informality in Indian cities. Action Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14767503251347422