Learning the City Knowledge and Translocal Assemblage

by McFarlane, Colin

• ISBN13: 9781444343434
• ISBN10: 1444343432
• Edition: 1st
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2011-07-15
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Learning the City: Translocal Assemblage and Urban Politics critically examines the relationship between knowledge, learning, and urban politics, arguing both for the centrality of learning for political strategies and developing a progressive international urbanism.  

• Presents a distinct approach to conceptualising the city through the lens of urban learning
• Integrates fieldwork conducted in Mumbai's informal settlements with debates on urban policy, political economy, and development
• Considers how knowledge and learning are conceived and created in cities
• Addresses the way knowledge travels and opportunities for learning about urbanism between North and South

Author Biography

Colin McFarlane is Lecturer in Human Geography at Durham University, UK. His research focuses on urban geography, especially theorising the intersections between urban inequality, materiality, and knowledge.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Preface ix

Acknowledgements x

Introduction 1

1 Learning Assemblages 15

Introduction 15

Translation: Distribution, Practice and Comparison 17

Coordinating Learning 19

Dwelling and Perception 21

Assemblage Space 23

Conclusion 30

2 Assembling the Everyday: Incremental Urbanism and Tactical Learning 32

Introduction 32

Incremental Urbanism 33

Learning the Unknown City: Street Children in Mumbai 43

Learning, Rhythm, Space 47

Tactical Learning 54

Conclusion 59

3 Learning Social Movements: Tactics, Urbanism and Politics 62

Introduction 62

Knowing Social Movements 63

Global Slumming 66

The Housing Assemblage: Materializing Learning 69

Learning and Representation: Counting the Poor 74

Entrepreneurial Learning 85

Conclusion 90

4 Urban Learning Forums 92

Introduction 92

Uncertain Forums 93

Dialogic Urban Forums 98

Translocalism and Translation 105

Conclusion 113

5 Travelling Policies, Ideological Assemblages 115

Introduction 115

Translating Policy 117

Comparative Learning: Translation and Colonial Urbanism 122

Ideology and Postwar Urban Planning 128

Neoliberal Urban Learning Assemblages 134

Ideology and Explanation: Beyond Diffusionist Story-Making 145

Conclusion 151

6 A Critical Geography of Urban Learning 153

Introduction 153

The Actual and the Possible 155

Agency and Critical Learning 160

Assemblage and the Critical Learning Imaginary 164

Postcolonial Urban Learning? 167

Conclusion 172

Conclusion 174

References 185

Index 205