In Praise of the Margin

Leigh Patel (Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Author of No Study without Struggle: Confronting Settler Colonialism in Higher Education) discusses how learning and struggle intertwine. What is the role of institutions of higher education in settler colonialism? We talk about learning/studying together as a fugitive practice, building a community within the classroom, th

Rashmi Sadana (Author and Associate Professor at George Mason University) talks about the metroscene in Delhi and how mega-infrastructure projects (re)shape cities and crowds, based on her extensive research and recent book The Moving City: Scenes from the Delhi Metro and the Social Life of Infrastructure, a vivid collection of stories on Delhi’s social and urban mobility landsca

Dr. Rashad Shabazz (Associate Professor in African American studies and geography at Arizona State University) walks us through how urban planning and policing social relations are mobilised to create spaces and policies of confinement and carcerality to contain Black communities in the South Side of Chicago. We talk about the role of carceral urbanism in making Black masculinity,

Dr. Nipesh Palat Narayanan (Research fellow at the Laboratory for Social Geography at the University of Florence in Italy) talks about his transition from architecture/urban planning in India to academic research on southern theory, knowledge hegemony, and informal food-vending practices in Delhi and Colombo. We discuss the production of the formal/informal binary, the politics of

Françoise Vergès, writer, historian, activist and public educator, walks us through the mise en scène of ‘the colonial triangle’ in the 12th Arrondissement in Paris. Between le Palais de la Porte Dorée (former Musée des Colonies, inaugurated in 1931 for the Exposition Coloniale Internationale in Paris), the Statue of Athena and le Monument Marchand, we discuss her new book

Dr. Asma Mehan (Postdoctoral fellow at Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology) talks about her work on the built environment, where she bridges between history and urban studies. We discuss the politics of space in Teheran and Kuala Lumpur, the manifestation of religion in the socio-spatial interactions, and colonial markers inside/outside of the built

Prof. Miguel A. Martínez (Uppsala University) discusses his work on the leftist squatters' movements in the capitalist city, commoning the urban space, and squatting as a form of organization and alternative living. We reflect on the importance of spaces of solidarity in the city, challenging the commodification of the urban realm, participatory action research, and the intersecti

Mariko Sugita, an editor, journalist, and researcher on all things architecture and urbanism talks about her projects that aim to connect voices beyond the borders. We discuss urban studies in the west, Japanese practices, urban narratives, and Kyoto as a realm of experimentation.