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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 Colin McFarlane
Lecturer in Human Geography
Department of Geography
Durham University
Durham
DH1 3LE
UK
Tel: 00 44 (0)191 334 1959
Fax: 00 44 (0)191 334 1801
Web: http://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/staff/geogstaffhidden/?id=4570