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Instructors: Martin Valdés-Stauber
Event type:
Seminar
Org-unit: Sociology, Politics & Economics
Displayed in timetable as:
Urban. GlobSoc.
Hours per week:
3
Credits:
6,0
Note: In your exam regulations, differing credits may have been specified.
Location:
Campus der Zeppelin Universität
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 38
Priority scheme: Standard-Priorisierung
Course content:
Ever since humans became sedentary their settlements are becoming more and more agglomerated. This process is usually described as urbanization. However, the distinction between cities and their environment is often blurry. Rather a multiplicity of spatial arrangements can be observed throughout history and across space. Thereby, spatial ordering is the result of social operations inscribing themselves in physical space. A prominent example therefor is gentrification: social (symbolic) distinctions alongside economic market mechanisms define the setup and ordering of urban areas. Eventually people are being crowd out from their neighborhood, while the city becomes increasingly clustered. The city is therefor the place, where a multiplicity of different encounters take place - or where mismeeting is spatially organized.
Cities and their setup are a site of struggle. For instance, the creation of public space has often been described as a democratic project. In the neoliberal city, however, public space is shrinking, becomes a commodity (shared spaces) or becomes surveilled space (securitization of public space). As a counter development, ecological discourses on liveability and smart cities are emerging.
Social differentiation and spatial differentiation tend to mirror each other. Increasing economic inequalities within cities, within countries and across the globe are expressed by the emergence of impoverished neighborhoods (e.g. banlieue) of by the rampant growth of slums in Mega Cities. Nowadays a majority of the world`s population is living in urban agglomerations. These centers are connected among each other within circuits of exchange (information, capital, goods, people etc.) unfolding an interconnected World Society.
The first block of the seminar (in January) will be devoted to clarify analytical vocabulary, to social theory (about space and city) and to the interconnections of economic, political, cultural and sociological perspectives in urban studies.
Each of the following six sessions deals with a different issue. Students selects four of these topics and submits before the session a short memo (5 000 characters) based on the readings. The sessions will deal with 1) gentrification 2) public space and its transformation (commodification, securization etc.) 3) liveability and smart cities 4) periphery (slums, banlieues etc.) 5) arrival city (migration and agglomeration) 6) global cities and the unfolding geographies of world society.
International Students are highly encouraged to take part in this seminar!
Educational objective:
Students learn to observe settlements intertwining different perspectives (economic, political, sociological etc.) and to analyze varying spatial orderings. Moreover, students learn to recognize the strategic use of concepts (e.g. privileged „cities“ versus stigmatized „countryside“, „periphery“ or „banlieue“). Ultimately urbanization should be discussed in regard to globalization and the geographies of an emerging world society.
Further information about the exams:
Students submit before the working sessions (each student four out of six) a Memo based on the reading list (5 000 characters). Written feedback is given before the respective session. At the end of the term the four (updated, corrected) Memos are submitted and graded.
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