Urban Spaces of Subversion and Submission (working title)

Across the globe, the future and direction of urban spaces are being contested in the public realm. From protest movements to city meetings, individuals are actively challenging the policies, practices, and logics of the neoliberal city. Central to this negotiation of power has been the struggle for marginalized urban residents to assert the legitimacy of their experiential knowledge. This panel seeks to bring together scholars who investigate the potentials and challenges of organic intellectualism to flourish under neoliberal hegemony or authoritarian state-city spaces. In particular, this panel looks for scholars examining spaces of subversion and submission, particularly within state logics of participation. Potential questions to be explored include: How does the state “set the stage” for legitimate and non-legitimate claims in the public realm? What are the discursive and material strategies and tactics utilized to discipline urban residents? How are particular process of knowledge production accepted and/or discredited? How do practices of division and classification (class, race, gender, space) intersect and influence the field? How are particular forms of engagement that use discredited (or ‘lower’) forms of discourse such as narratives and emotions used to buttress or transgress these spaces?

We are seeking papers for the panel described below, organized by Siri Colom and Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, to take place at the 2012 AAA meetings in San Francisco. We welcome any questions and ask for abstract submissions by April 10, 2012.