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The City in Political Theory

Citizenship
Civil Society
Democracy
Globalisation
Political Theory
Critical Theory
Ethics
Normative Theory
P434
Avner de Shalit
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Avner de Shalit
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Building: VMP 5, Floor: 2, Room: 2091

Thursday 09:00 - 10:40 CEST (23/08/2018)

Abstract

While political theorizing explicitly and implicitly assumes that the political framework within which we function is the state or sometimes the international system, contemporary patterns of urbanism are positioning cities as meaningful polities with increased political power. As a political entity, the city has its particular political attributes that are different from those of the state. This difference makes a difference in the way we approach political issues at large and specifically when we want to think about political institutions in the city. This panel invites papers that address city-related analyses in contemporary political theory and seeks to ascertain how our political theorizing would be altered by giving primacy to the political and institutional form of the city. To elaborate, the institutional form of local democracy and urban citizenship and the social dynamic of urban social movements are different from those at the national level. Moreover, contemporary urban political theories identify the city as a significant source of collective political identity and as a form of social interaction that is differentiated from that of the state. This notion is supported by theories of urban citizenship which argue for more autonomy for cities to act relatively independently of state intervention. These aspects tie in with normative ideals of urban democracy in which the civic community is empowered to collectively shape the identity and institutions of their city. Lastly, citizens conceive their civic rights and duties differently in the national and city contexts with different expectations from their polities. All these aspects imply that we cannot simply graft state-based theorizing onto the city and call for a consolidation of cities in political theory. The panel papers address one or more of the following topics: • The social, economic, cultural and political implication and the normative aspects of cities’ increased political power. • Patterns of political participation and citizenship in cities. Do cities enable greater opportunities for civic engagement? Do cities make politics more attractive? Do cities provide an adequate response to declining participation in national politics? • Conceptual and/ or empirical analyses of social justice, equality, liberty, citizenship, agency and democracy from a city-based perspective. • City-state relationships and especially the extent to which urban autonomy is a desired development. • Normative analysis of cities’ functioning in global politics.

Title Details
Sanctuary Cities and Urban Citizenship View Paper Details
What is the Point of ‘Urban Justice’? View Paper Details
Gentrifiers' Agency: Typology and Analysis View Paper Details
Inequality in Cities and an Argument for Democracy View Paper Details