Fall/Winter Timetable

POL471H1S L0101

Graduate Course Code: POL2371H1S L0101

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, critical geography and political theory, this course follows Lefebvre's lead and asks: what forces shape contemporary urbanization and what is the political significance of the contemporary urban age? 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.

Texts

TBA

Format and Requirements

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