Fall/Winter Timetable

POL2392H1F L0101

Undergraduate Course Code: POL492H1F L0101

Topics in Comparative Politics IV

Urban Revolution: Contemporary Constellations of Spatial Politics

Themes

For Henri Lefebvre who coined the phrase in 1970, “Urban Revolution” referred not only to the various political uprising of 1968, but to an emerging mode of economic production, way of life and form of thought. “The urban” had supplanted “the industrial” as the force of historical change and engine of capitalist growth. Working with concepts from comparative urban politics, Marxist geography and political theory, this course follows Lefebvre's lead and asks: What are the particularities, contradictions and possibilities of the contemporary urban revolution? This question is posed in a variety of contexts, both in the global North and the global South. The theoretical and empirical engagements of the course are thus carried out with the aim of being able to understand 21st century urbanization as key site of political struggle. This

Format and Requirements

One two-hour seminar per week. Course requirements TBA.

Preparation

Two POL courses in comparative politics.