ANTHRO-OBSCENE

This meeting is about democratic practices and political movements in the age of urbanisation and ecological crises. What are the political promises that we can and must articulate to again build societies on the notion of equality? What new socio-ecological organisational forms exist that can challenge current status quo? What new terrains of the political is being invented and connected - from climate change, food security and ‘de-growth’ movements, to struggles of non-authorised immigrants, anti-austerity and insurgent citizenship - and that re-thinks equality and freedom in socio-ecological terms? We have invited key international scholars in political philosophy, urban studies, and urban political ecology to discuss and debate new imaginaries of emancipatory change, including: Edgar Pieterse, Jodi Dean, Roger Keil, Andy Merrifield, Maria Kaika, Jason Moore, Malini Ranganathan, Nik Heynen, Neil Brenner, Marco Armiero, Garth Myers, Richard Walker and the organisers Erik Swyngedouw and Henrik Ernstson (two more to confirm). These thinkers will ground our discussions in the very varied experiences of urbanisation and struggle from the Global South to the Global North, from Athens, London and Stockholm, to Cape Town, Dar el Salaam, Hong Kong and Jakarta. Ideas from political theory, from Rancière and Fanon to Haraway and Butler and several others, will meet the realities of our urban world for sobering, yet speculative analysis. The meeting includes open seminars, an evening debate, and an open forum for activist, organisers and artists. RSVP and sign up as Volunteer. Read more under FRAMING/TASK. Welcome!