De-colonizing urban geography - Detailseite

Seats are allocated with preference to students in the Master "Urban Geographien" and other MA students in Geography. Should additional seats be available, preference wil be given based on participation in the Week 1 seminar.

The course grade is predominantly centered on a written essay of ca. 25,000 characters, to be completed by 30 September 2019. Additional requirements of the course include a presentation, reading notes, and seminar participation. Failure to comply may result in the inadmissability of the essay grade.

Required readings must be completed before the seminar, including for Week 1. This is a discussion-intensive seminar, so please take Week 1 readings as indicative of the preparation expected every week.

Backround reading for the course:

Said, E. (1994). Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage.

Week 1 Required reading:

Jazeel, T. (2016). Between area and discipline: Progress, knowledge production and the geographies of Geography. Progress in Human Geography, 40(5), 649-667.

Roy, A. (2016). Who's Afraid of Postcolonial Theory?. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 40(1), 200-209.

Taking Edward Said's writing about geography as a discipline of the empire as a starting point, this seminar will take an in-depth look at canons of urban thought through a critical, post-colonial lens. From the "global city" to a "planet of slums," the ubiquity of the "creative city" and the imperatives of the "smart city," this course will interrogate dominant urban tropes, their origins and consequences for a variegated world of cities. In addition to theoretical readings, this seminar will consider empirical cases with a focus on cities of the majority world.