CALL FOR PAPERS
RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2010, 1st-3rd September, London
What is critical urbanism?
Convenors: Colin McFarlane, Durham University, and Tom Slater,
University of Edinburgh.
Sponsored by the Urban Geography Research Group (UGRG)
What do we mean by 'critical' in relation to urban geographical
research? What does being critical require, and what is at stake in
pursuing it in urban research? In what ways does critical urban research
take shape, and how is it conducted through our individual and
collective projects? How are/might critical alternatives by actively
formulated, proposed and put into practice? Given the changing
structural and institutional context of social scientific inquiry (e.g.
the emerging concern with different kinds of ‘impact’; the expectation
of making research more amenable, accessible and appealing to policy
elites over other groups such as urban social movements), what are the
constraints and opportunities for critical urban inquiry, and what
tactics can it deploy?
This session examines the different ways in which critique is deployed
in urban geographical research. The purpose is to generate discussion
around what critical urban research might mean or involve, to reflect on
the changing nature of critical scholarship in urban geography, and to
consider its future. Against this background, contributors are
encouraged to address any of the following questions in their papers:
· What is ‘critical’ about critical urban geographical research today?
· How best to capture the transformation of cities under contemporary
capitalism?
· To what extent can such transformations be understood through notions
of neocapitalism, neoliberalism or globalization?
· How does space structure and result from forms of inequality and
marginality, and how has this role changed in both historical and
contemporary contexts?
· How might differences in urban contexts (such as between Global North
and Global South cities) affect the tone, content and power of critical
scholarship?
· What is the ‘housing question’ under historical and contemporary
capitalism and how, if at all, has it changed?
· Is another type of city - and society - possible? What might it look
like?
We invite abstracts of up to 250 words by 20th February 2010. Please
address any correspondence to both convenors: Colin McFarlane
([log in to unmask]) and Tom Slater ([log in to unmask]).
--
Dr. Tom Slater
Institute of Geography,
University of Edinburgh
Drummond Street,
Edinburgh EH8 9XP, U.K.
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 9506
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/tslater
http://www.urbanoutcastsoftheworld.net
"The language of 'evidence-based policy research' is essentially a
dubious rhetoric."
Paul Gilroy, 2009.
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
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