Social Theory of the City

This reading-intensive course considers how scholars from a variety of disciplines have constructed and conceptualized the city, with particular attention to the role of the urban setting as both product and producer of social relations of power. Students examine the historiography of urban theory, including both classical and contemporary approaches. Readings draw from a variety of theoretical formations including but not limited to urban ecology, political economy, neoliberal urbanism, critical race theory, feminism, queer theory, and more. A primary aim of the course is to trouble the spatial, temporal, and conceptual bounds of what qualifies as urban, and to consider how alternative ways of imagining the city can and do support a range of political agendas and social movements.

Taught by Laura Barraclough Spring 2016