Springer The Urban Political: Ambivalent Spaces of Late Neoliberalism

This book examines the political and economic trajectories of cities following the 2008 financial crisis. The authors claim that in this era―which they dub "late neoliberalism"―urban spaces, institutions, subjectivities, and organizational forms are undergoing processes of radical transformation and recomposition. The volume deftly argues that the urban political horizon of late neoliberalism is ambivalent; marked by many progressive mobilizations for equality and justice, but also by regressive forces of austerity, exploitation, and domination. Review “This is a vital statement of both the centrality of the urban in political relations and―more crucially―its democratic possibilities in late neoliberalism. The volume warrants careful engagement by scholars across a number of disciplines seeking to better understand the lifeblood, potentialities, and frontiers of critical urban theory today.” (David Imbroscio, University of Louisville, author of Urban America Reconsidered: Alternatives for Governance and Policy) “Sensitive to different understandings of the urban political, theoretically sophisticated, and richly informed by case studies from four continents, this collection will be invaluable to urbanists and students of contemporary politics.” (Warren Magnusson, University of Victoria, author of Politics of Urbanism: Seeing Like a City) “The Urban Political provides a grounded investigation of what the editors call ‘late neoliberalism,’ with a more general focus on the meaning of the political against the background of contemporary urban dynamics. Cutting across several disciplinary fields, this book makes a trailblazing contribution to urban studies. It invites us to explore new continents of political activity opened up by the insurgent actions of social movements and urban struggles, while at the same time taking into account the full-fledged political nature of neoliberal forms of governmentality often deemed as ‘post-political.’” (Sandro Mezzadra, University of Bologna, co-author of Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor) From the Back Cover This book examines the political and economic trajectories of cities following the 2008 financial crisis. The authors claim that in this era―which they dub "late neoliberalism"―urban spaces, institutions, subjectivities, and organizational forms are undergoing processes of radical transformation and recomposition. The volume deftly argues that the urban political horizon of late neoliberalism is ambivalent; marked by many progressive mobilizations for equality and justice, but also by regressive forces of austerity, exploitation, and domination. About the Author Theresa Enright is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her primary research interests are in the fields of critical theory, metropolitan politics, and urban political economy.  Ugo Rossi is Senior Researcher in Political and Economic Geography at the Università di Torino, Italy. He is the author (with A. Vanolo) of Urban Political Geographies: A Global Perspective (2012) and Cities in Global Capitalism (2017). Contributors:  Yousuf Al-Bulushi, assistant professor of urban peace studies in the Center for Geographies of Justice at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Niccolò Cuppini, research fellow in Social Research at SUPSI (Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana) in Switzerland. Mark Davidson, associate professor of geography at Clark University, USA. Iris Dzudzek, post-doctoral researcher and teacher in human geography at Goethe-University Frankfurt A. M, Germany. Theresa Enright, assistant professor of political science and senior fellow at the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. Crispian Fuller, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the School of Geography and Planni