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114 – Everyday Geopolitics (Cities and Geopolitics VI)
A mini-series on Cities and Geopolitics by Urban Political Podcastin collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal The sixth and final episode of the Cities and Geopolitics series explores how geopolitical power is encountered, reproduced, and contested through everyday urban life. Moving beyond an understanding of geopolitics centred exclusively on states,…
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113 – Urban Political Economies and Geopolitical Worldmaking (Cities and Geopolitics V)
A mini-series on Cities and Geopolitics by Urban Political Podcast in collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal The fifth episode of the Cities and Geopolitics series examines how contemporary geopolitical transformations are increasingly mediated through urban political economies. From industrial policy and strategic investment to financial flows, real estate speculation,…
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112 – Remaindered Life and the Architecture of Migration
Amid endless wars, authoritarianism, neocolonialism, and displacement, millions are being uprooted, while pervasive uncertainty grips millions more. As the world is remade through what some have described as neo-illiberalism, the very façade of humanitarianism, and indeed the boundaries of who counts as human, is beginning to unravel. Contemporary capitalism, imperialism, and colonial power produce vast…
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111 – Bonus Episode: Geopolitical Ecology (Cities and Geopolitics IV)
A mini-series on Cities and Geopolitics by Urban Political Podcastin collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal What happens when we bring questions of power, territory, infrastructure, and ecological transformation into the same conversation? In this bonus episode of the Cities and Geopolitics miniseries, Nitin Bathla is joined by Malini Ranganathan…
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110 – Take Back the City: Grassroots Struggles, Housing Justice, and Decolonial Futures in Belfast
This podcast episode explores the political production of urban space in Belfast through the lenses of housing justice, grassroots organising, insurgent planning, and collective rights to the city. Developed as part of the Change Stories Project, the discussion draws on the experiences of the Take Back the City campaign and the work of Participation and…
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109 – Corridors, Logistics, and Circulation (Cities and Geopolitics III)
A mini-series on Cities and Geopolitics by Urban Political Podcastin collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal The third episode of the Cities and Geopolitics series explores the spatial and operational logics of circulation, examining how the movement of goods, capital, data, and people is organised, accelerated, and contested across urban…
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108 – Infrastructures of Power (Cities and Geopolitics II)
A mini-series in collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal The second episode of the Cities and Geopolitics series turns to the material architectures through which geopolitical power is organised and exercised. From energy grids and digital networks to ports, logistics hubs, and semiconductor infrastructures, contemporary geopolitical rivalries are increasingly mediated…
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107 – Tenant Politics and Urban Political Economy
Within the last years four books have been published exploring the political economy of the private rental sector, with a focus on inequality and resistance. This episode would bring together all four authors (see below) to explore the political economy forces driving the growth of the private rental sector and associated forms of housing injustice…
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106 – Cities and Geopolitics I
A mini-series by Urban Political Podcastin collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal In an era of intensifying geopolitical rivalries, the terrains of global power are increasingly being reconfigured through the infrastructure, economies, and everyday rhythms of urbanisation. From semiconductor supply chains and energy transitions to port expansions, data centres, and…
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105 – Transforming Local Statehood II: Progressive Possibilities?
While the first episode on the transformations of the local state (episode 104) focussed on current authoritarian takeover in different European contexts, this episode will zoom into the progressive possibilities of local state transformations. The episode discusses institutional changes within the local state, the role of other political actors and geographical scales as well as…
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104 – Transforming Local Statehood I: Towards Authoritarian Takeover?
Across Europe, local states are in a dire predicament, experiencing the consequences of austerity cuts, shortage of staff as well as a lack of trust in (local) government. Overlapping crises such as climate change, military conflicts and displacement, precarious provisions of public services, the production of so-called left-behind spaces and the rise of the far…
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103 – Beyond Neoliberal Urbanism?
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Are we seeing the emergence of a new conjuncture for urbanism? The final part of our mini series asks whether authoritarian neoliberalism has created the conditions for a more illiberal and distinct type of urban governance . Authoritarianism is not new to neoliberalism – the Pinochet regime, Thatcherism in the UK –…
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102 – Authoritarian Practices in Urban Government
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Today it seems fairly obvious to say that urban government has become more authoritarian – there is vastly increased levels of surveillance, violent and militarised policing of dissent and the targeting of migrant, queer and ethnic minority communities. Building on the previous episode on ‘authoritarian populism’, the panel discussion focuses on the…
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101 – Authoritarian Populism and the City
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Across the world, a rightward populist turn is reshaping politics, everyday life, and the spaces we inhabit. This series examines the rise of authoritarian urbanism born from the convergence of state power, militarised violence, infrastructure-led development, and racialised and religious nationalism. As neoliberalism faces a crisis of legitimacy, these forces work to…
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100 – Looking Back, Looking Forward
6 Years of the Urban Political Podcast This episode is our 100th! We are delighted that we have reached this landmark and thank all our listeners and contributors since we started the Urban Political in 2019. To mark the occasion of this 100th podcast we have produced a special issue containing two parts, in which…
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99 – The Impossible Possibility of ‘Home’
What does it mean to be at ‘home’, when ‘home’ is the expression of structural forms of violence, at the intersection of anthropocentrism, patriarchy, heteronormativity and racial capitalism? As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, home can be read as a juncture where many of the inequalities of our time come and are held together structurally; yet,…
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98 – (Re)Politicising Housing
This is our second episode in collaboration with the ‘Where is Urban Politics?’ hybrid seminar series hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands between 2024-2026. This episode ponders urgent issues on (re)politicizing housing across Europe. The first speaker is Josh Ryan-Collins, who talks about the financialisation of housing, drivers, outcomes and options for…
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97 – In Loving Memory of Mark Saunders
We dedicate this episode to the extraordinary urban filmmaker and tireless social-justice advocate, Mark Saunders, who passed away recently at the age of 68. Mark’s powerful contributions to documentary filmmaking, particularly through Despite TV, gave voice to the marginalized and illuminated urgent political and social issues across the globe. His unwavering commitment to storytelling, empathy,…
