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| Semester | fall semester 2021 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Faranak Miraftab (faranak.miraftab@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course interrogates the relationship between planning and varied forms of grassroots action in the context of global neoliberal capitalism. It critically examines the shifting configuration of the roles and responsibility of state, market and citizens in this era of late capitalism and asks what does this mean for planning as a field of praxis. Towards this broader goal, we will discuss several critical themes: a) Planning theories: how overtime planning theories have opened up from framing planning as a mere scientific activity of elite professionals to include everyday practices of the grassroots. b) State decentralization and citizenship: how reconfiguration of state-citizen relations have simultaneously given rise to market oriented entrepreneurial planning and community-based participatory planning. In specific, what these shifts mean for notion of citizenship. c) Radical care: how at the center of self-reliant grassroots development are women and gendered responsibilities of collective care. In specific, how feminist scholarship on informal politics and social reproduction (collective consumption) help us understand grassroots practices for project of urbanization. d) Insurgent practices of planning: how does processes of urban development in this late capitalist era urge us to rethink planning as contested field of action by multiple actors and decenter the role of professional planners in practices of planning. In specific, how we can learn from grassroots insurgent planning practices and urban movements to shape a future baring the promise of a humane urbanism. We will engage with each of the themes above drawing on readings, insights, experiences and case examples from global South and North. In specific, the lectures will draw from instructor’s observations in cities of Latin America, West and South Africa and the United States. The course format combines lecture, discussion and group work. Overall, the morning sessions include lectures, and the afternoon sessions include discussion of readings, group work where students draw on course readings and lectures to reflect on their own observations and experiences in cities where they have lived, worked, or studied, and presentation of group works. |
| Learning objectives | Above all the objective of this course is to advance a critical perspective that facilitates urban frameworks for development of humane urbanism. For that, we will a) Engage with and decenter professional formal planning decision in the analysis of urban development processes. b) Analyze the current urban development processes and struggles through anti-capitalist, anti-sexist and anti-racist lenses offered by critical interdisciplinary urban and planning scholarship. c) Reflect on the global perspective we earn through this course, to better understand the current struggles and contradictory processes of urban development in cities where students are situated. |
| Comments | *** Extended deadline for registration*** This course is capped and 30 students will be the maximum with a priority for 2nd Year Critical Urbanisms Master students on timely registration. Please register by 9th September at the latest. *** Important Information from the lecturer*** Submit your written reflections to the instructor via email attachment at faranak@illinois.edu with subject line indicating [Basel U-reading reflection] preferably the night before each session (Sept 12-16) but no later than September 27th. For each assigned reading and viewing please prepare a paragraph of reflection which in your own words summarizes a key take-away point of the reading (there will be a number, so feel free to choose what seems most important or compelling to you). Please also prepare two questions for each reading, which could help us in our discussion. These questions can include issues that you would like to clarify as well as questions which help us think about the debate and the significance – the ‘so what’ – of each reading. |
| Admission requirements | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | See individual dates | ||
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 13.09.2021 | 09.00-17.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Tuesday 14.09.2021 | 09.00-17.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 115 |
| Wednesday 15.09.2021 | 09.00-17.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 115 |
| Thursday 16.09.2021 | 09.00-17.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 115 |
| Friday 17.09.2021 | 09.00-17.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 115 |
| Modules |
Modul: Erweiterung Gesellschaftswissenschaften M.A. (Master's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Fachkompetenz Globaler Wandel (Master's degree subject: Geography) Modul: Fields: Environment and Development (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Interdisciplinary and Applied African Studies (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms (Start of studies before 01.08.2020)) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Staatlichkeit, Entwicklung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |