POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW 37(3): 473–497 (SEPTEMBER 2011) 473 Bridges to Nowhere: Hosts, Migrants, and the Chimera of Social Capital in Three African Cities SANGEETHA MADHAVAN LOREN B. LANDAU STUDIES OF SOCIAL networks and social capital occupy prominent positions in the literature on migration and urbanization and, increasingly, in popular and political discourse. This research has largely focused on international migrants within Europe and North America. Particularly notable is research on the social networks of Mexican migrants in the United States (Aguilera and Massey 2003; Kanaiapuni et al. 2005; Massey et al. 1987; Munshi 2003). While debates continue about the relative value of particular types of social networks and social capital on migrants’ success and well-being, most of this research is premised on the existence of clearly discernible and self- identified “host” and “migrant” communities founded on common attributes (e.g., ethnicity and place of birth) that engender and shape different types of social capital within and across groups. Shifting the focus of inquiry to sub- Saharan Africa’s rapidly changing urban centers reveals the limits of these presumptions. Making sense of human mobility in urban Africa means first interpreting the meaning and utility of social connections and bonds among and between hosts and migrants as reflected in levels of trust. Whereas migration and mobility remain critical variables in understand- ing urbanization in Africa, any study of social networks and social capital in African cities must account for: 1) the substantial number of domestic mi- grants, which typically vastly exceeds the number of international movers; 2) the relatively recent acceleration in urbanization rates and rapid expansion of the urban population; 3) the presence of highly transient and fluid ”host” communities; and 4) the relative absence of centralized social or political au- thorities who effectively grant or deny access to critical spaces, services, and opportunities. Indeed, within the informal and often highly fluid environ- ments into which new urban residents arrive, one may find no identifiable host PDR 37.3 Madhavan-FINAL.indd 473 8/17/11 9:37:30 AM