The articles below engage with a broad range of topics: urban waste management in India and France; realities of urban life in New York (from superdiversity to the platform economy to basement housing); housing issues in Brazil and Lebanon; or the impact of a new transportation network on Delhi’s social life.
If you are crafting syllabi for the upcoming academic year, we encourage you to consider these articles and explore our archives, which are full of accessible scholarly research perfect for both undergraduate and graduate courses. If you are a researcher, we hope you will submit a manuscript for review. A short-form piece in Metropolitics can help you to develop an embryonic idea, draw attention to a book or longer academic article that you have already published, and engage with a broad public audience. You can find Metropolitics’ style guide and word limits here.
Have a wonderful summer!
James DeFilippis (Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)
Editorial Director, Metropolitics
From the Field | Power in the Periphery: Waste Conflict and Resistance in Periurban Kerala
Ashish Prabhakar
Ashish Prabhakar analyzes one Indian village’s fight against a city waste processing plant in 2011–2012, illustrating the perils of rapid urbanization, increasing consumption, the diminishing carrying capacities of cities, and growing mounds of garbage. The village’s pushback not only highlights the tensions between various levels of governance structures, but also signals the need for a deeper examination of urban planning and urbanization.
Debates | The Slow Violence of Planned Obsolescence
Elise Mason
Elise Mason critiques planned obsolescence as a form of slow violence. She argues for an ethic of care, rooted in Black feminist thinking and writing, to transform waste and our relationship to it.
From the Field | Spaces of Inclusion and Exclusion: Algerians in Paris, France
Elizabeth Nelson
In the context of contemporary French republicanism, how do Algerians in Paris assert their identities and negotiate spaces of inclusion and exclusion in the public sphere?
Debates | Changes in Contemporary Brazilian Housing Policy: The Dismantling of Social Housing and Grassroots Mobilization
Thalles Vichiato Breda
Thalles Vichiato Breda argues that since 2016, with the rise of right-wing governments in Brazil, the federal social-housing policy has been dismantled, resulting in increasing housing precariousness and making room for grassroots mobilization.
Essays | Visualizing “Superdiversity” in New York City
H. Jacob Carlson
A new set of visualization and mapping tools focused on “superdiversity” shows the complexity and intersectionality of New York City. These tools will be useful for scholars, policy-shapers, journalists, and many others.
From the Field | Securing Shelter While Facing Eviction: The Case of Syrian Migrants in Lebanon
Dima El Khouri
Dima El Khouri documents the politics of securing housing for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. She shows the complex web of negotiations that take place between refugees, local Lebanese city dwellers, local authorities, and international NGOs.
Reviews | Cooperating in Democracies
Evan Casper-Futterman
Evan Casper-Futterman reviews Practicing Cooperation: Mutual Aid Beyond Capitalism by Andrew Zitcer, which reflects on the role of cooperation in democratic societies, and specifically the importance of practices of cooperation for a more just society.
Reviews | Episodes from the Social Life of the Delhi Metro
Sneha Mandhan
What is the impact of a new metro on a large and growing city? As new metros are cropping up across Asia, Rashmi Sadana documents the changes brought to the city of Delhi by a sprawling new transportation system. She shows that the Delhi metro is both similar to other subways of the world and unique in its inscription in a distinctive cultural landscape.
From the Field | Closing the Loop or Looping Close By? Metabolic Nodes to Challenge the Spatial Extent of the Circular Economy
Marine Frantz & Gabriel Renault
Marine Frantz and Gabriel Renault explore the spatial dimension of the circular economy, particularly in regard to waste management issues. Based on research conducted in Lille, France, they outline steps municipalities could take to develop a more local recycling industry.
Reviews | Making Routes on the Sea. A Review of Sinews of War and Trade
Natasha N. Iskander
Natasha N. Iskander reviews Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula by Laleh Kalili, which elucidates the labor, power, and politics of international trade routes from the vantage point of the sea.
Essays | Navigating Jefes Fantasmas in New York City’s Urban Platform Economy
Jackson Todd
How has the “platform economy” altered urban life, infrastructure, and labor? Jackson Todd examines New York City’s deliveristas and the coercive practices employed by food delivery applications. What is the future of labor rights in the new economy?
From the Field | Regulating Basement Conversions in New York City. Experiments with Flexible Housing Legality
Ooha Uppalapati
Ooha Uppalapati examines the regulation of basement apartments in New York City and the implications of proposed laws for both homeowners and tenants.
