Metropolitics

Algeria's Hirak: When a Social Movement Puts Citizenship Under the Microscope

Islam Amine Derradji & Amel Gherbi & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-03-26T06:00:00Z

The popular mobilization that rose up in Algeria in 2019 was not only a revolt against living conditions that had become unacceptable. It was also a movement that turned the country's streets into a stage for the organized construction of collective and political life by citizens seeking to revisit their history and assert their independence.
Since February 22, 2019, Algeria has been living to the rhythm of unprecedented mobilizations. Millions of Algerians took to the streets to oppose

- From the Field / North Africa, Maghreb, Africa, collective action, mobilization, civic organizing, demonstrations, protest, Algeria, social movement, citizenship, citizens

How the Youth of the Banlieues See the Gilets Jaunes

2020-04-24T05:00:00Z

Do the “Yellow Vests” and the youth of France's banlieues share a common vision of the inequalities and discrimination that divide contemporary societies? A roundtable discussion organized as part of research on participation in working-class neighborhoods sheds light on the ambivalent views that certain young people in these areas have regarding the Gilets Jaunes movement.
Since the beginning of the Gilets Jaunes (“Yellow Vests”) movement, in October 2018, a number of commentators have noted

- From the Field / banlieue, suburbs, gilets jaunes, youth, collective action, mobilization, working-class neighborhoods, working classes, demonstrations, protest, discrimination, Paris region, Île-de-France, France, Paris

Migrants' Occupation of Lycée Jean Quarré: The Refugee Cause and the Cause of a Neighborhood

Isabelle Coutant & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-11-16T06:00:00Z

The flows of migrants seeking refuge in Europe since the summer of 2015 have led to temporary settlements—legal or otherwise—in various urban locations. What is the impact of their presence on individual neighborhoods and relations with local communities? A study by Isabelle Coutant on the occupation of a disused high school in northeastern Paris sheds light on these impacts and the associated expressions of solidarity, engagement and tension that emerge.
In the summer of 2015, the

- Essays / France, immigration, refugees, public space, working-class neighborhoods, collective action, Paris, proximity, neighborhood, migration, sociabilities, RESF, hospitality, politics, school, migrants, engagement, occupation, local action, asylum

A Geography of Revolt in Alexandria, Egypt's Second Capital

Youssef El Chazli — 2016-02-23T06:00:00Z

How does the layout of a city affect how protest unfolds? How does urban space constrain and enable the choices protesters have both physically and symbolically? How does protest differ from one city to another? Youssef El Chazli takes us inside Alexandria's revolt in January 2011 and contrasts it to the better-known story of the anti-Mubarak uprising of 25 January 2011 in Cairo, showing us the ways in which the protest in Egypt's “second capital” ballooned because of the geographically

- From the Field / public space, collective action, demonstrations, social movement, police, urban geography, protest, Arab Spring, Egypt, geography, Alexandria

“I, you, he, she, we are all Charlie”: what feeling concerned means

Gérôme Truc & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-05T05:50:00Z

The attacks that took place in Paris in early January have affected French society in a way never seen before, as shown by the number of people that joined marches all over France on 11 January and the success of the message “I am Charlie”, which spread incredibly quickly and was widely adopted, reported, adapted – and subsequently criticised – immediately after the events of 7 January. How are we to make sense of the solidarity exhibited through this message? And what are the specificities of

- Essays / France, public space, collective action, Paris, attacks, citizenship, concernedness, solidarity, attachment, terrorism

Designing protests in urban public space

Tali Hatuka — 2011-09-14T05:00:00Z

Social and political protests in urban public spaces are multiplying in cities all around the world. Tali Hatuka explains the role of space and gaze in the design of public dissent.
“Whatever happens in Tahrir immediately becomes a national concern,” the national daily Al-Ahram's Fatemah Farag wrote in 1999, making it clear that the location and the design of recent protests play a crucial role in the meaning and effect of the action on the general public. Indeed, when Tahrir Square, usually

- Debates / public space, democracy, collective action, demonstrations, social movement

New Orleans Post-Katrina: the Uses of the Web in Times of Crisis

Jean Samuel Bordreuil & translated by Oliver Waine — 2011-06-24T05:53:00Z

What is the role of the internet media, particularly blogs, in mobilizing action in the aftermath of a major disaster? Jean Samuel Bordreuil examines the case of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and demonstrates the importance of these resources not just in organizing initial aid, but also in sustaining momentum for the mobilization of civic action.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years How does a population hit by a disaster mobilize the digital resources it possesses in

- From the Field / catastrophe, communication technology, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, collective action, hurricane

Making sustainability public: the bayou observation deck in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans

Stéphane Tonnelat & translated by Eric Rosencrantz — 2011-06-20T05:30:00Z

How can the residents of a flooded neighborhood in New Orleans, torn between reconstruction imperatives and environmental exigencies, prove its viability? Stéphane Tonnelat looks at a solution people from the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans came up with: a platform providing access to the bayou as well as a forum for debate about the future of the neighborhood. This public space seems to have bolstered the sustainability of a neighborhood in a risky location.
---- Series: New Orleans: The

- From the Field / catastrophe, public space, sustainable development, New Orleans, disaster, environment, collective action, hurricane

Arab Cities in Revolution: Some Observations

Éric Verdeil & translated by Oliver Waine — 2011-02-25T08:04:37Z

Are the revolutions we are currently witnessing in Tunisia and Egypt essentially urban revolutions? Éric Verdeil examines the problems facing the economies and public services of Arab cities, which have, in part, given rise to these movements.
Like many observers, I have been keenly watching and left somewhat dumbfounded by the extraordinary events that have unfolded since 14 January in Tunisia and which, over the last week, have also spread to Egypt (a country I know very little about, I

- Essays / Arab city, revolution, urban economy, collective action, Arab Spring, Egypt, Tunisia