Agonistic security: Transcending (de/re)constructive divides in critical security studies

This article is a contribution to transcending the dichotomy between deconstruction and reconstruction in critical security studies. In the first part, I review dominant (Western/liberal) logics of security and the main strands of critical security studies to argue for the need to: overcome the liberal framework of the balance among rights and freedom, with its inherent imbrication with the fantasy of absolute security; and, contra the ultimate conclusions of deconstructive critique, to take the desire for security seriously at the same time. By advocating for embracing the tensions that surface at this intersection, I then move to my reconstructive endeavor. I set out a meta-theory with both analytical and normative nature, agonistic security, inspired by the political theory developed by Mouffe and Laclau. Building on the opposition between antagonism and agonism, I argue that security belongs to the “political”, and that it constitutes a field of struggle for politicization. I then argue for three conceptual shifts, which concretely define agonistic security: i) from an absolute/static to a relational/dynamic understanding of security; ii) from universalism to pluralism at a world scale; and iii) from the dominance of individual rights in Western/liberal thinking toward security as a collective endeavor. In conclusion, I take a step back and discuss the implications of agonistic security for the role of critique in security studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Against the Commons. A Radical History of Urban Planning [book review]

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The “Souths” of the “Wests”. Southern critique and comparative housing studies in Southern Europe and USA

Southern urban critique has enriched our understanding of global uneven development, but often ended up constructing a dichotomous understanding of two apparently homogeneous fields: the Global North (or West) and South. This has been particularly evident in housing studies. In this article, I advocate for a relational, multi-scalar and comparative approach to southern urban critique, capable of exposing quasi-colonial relations within the urban “West”; and apply it to the exploration of housing dynamics and systems in Southern Europe and Southern USA—two regions linked to their continental “cores” by historical patterns of uneven and combined development. Despite being characterized by different urban frameworks and housing systems, these regions have in common analogous patterns of globalization and neoliberalization, with similar impacts over housing, especially in the aftermaths of the global economic crisis. By discussing how global trends intersect with regional contexts, I aim to provide conceptual and epistemological instruments for deepening the analytical grasp and political relevance of southern (urban) critique.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Semi-quantitative mapping in comparative case-study research: Resources, constraints and research design adaptation

This blog entry discusses the use of a ‘quasi-quantitative’ mapping method as part of comparative case-study research for a PhD, in the context of (unforeseen) constraints and scarce resources. Specifically, I present the challenges I faced working in different contexts, with different resources and in different temporal windows – and the subsequent processes of adaptation of the research design. First, I introduce the PhD research to ground the decision to use maps. Second, I discuss how a method designed for the city where I carried out my PhD (Palermo, Italy) was partially delusional in the city where I developed a second case-study (Lisbon, Portugal) and how I had to steer the research design as a consequence. Third, I reflect on the implications of a (too?) ambitious research design and summarise the lessons I have learnt with broader relevance for comparative case-study research, writes Simone Tulumell

Gated communities nel meridione europeo? Alcune evidenze tra Lisbona e Palermo

Dagli anni '90 le discipline sociologiche e geografiche hanno posto particolare attenzione ai processi di securizzazione, fortificazione e privatizzazione dello spazio urbano. La ricerca di dottorato dalla quale questo articolo è estratto ha l'ambizione di estendere il ragionamento ai territori del meridione europeo – generalmente tralasciati dalla letteratura di riferimento – e di contribuire ad una teorizzazione per una pianificazione capace di affrontare tali questioni. La letteratura esistente ha uno dei suoi fulcri nello studio delle gated communities, condomini fortificati sull'esempio di quelli statunitensi emergenti dagli anni '70: in questo pezzo si analizza la questione delle gated communities e le sue declinazioni nelle città di Lisbona e Palermo

From "Spaces of Fear" to "Fearscapes": Mapping for Reframing Theories About the Spatialization of Fear in Urban Space

The article engages with theory about the processes of spatialization of fear in contemporary Western urban space (fortification, privatization, exclusion/seclusion, fragmentation, polarization) and their relation to fear of crime and violence. A threefold taxonomy is outlined (Enclosure, Post-Public Space, Barrier), and “spaces of fear” in the city of Palermo are mapped with the aim of exploring the cumulative large-scale effects of the spatialization of fear on a concrete urban territory. Building on empirical evidence, the author suggests that mainstream theories be reframed as part of a less hegemonic and more discursive approach and that theories mainly based on the analyses of global cities be deprovincialized. The author argues for the deconstruction of the concept of “spaces of fear” in favor of the more discursive concept of “fearscapes” to describe the growing landscapes of fear in contemporary Western cities

Cosmopolitan, racialized, or both: Conflicting imaginaries in Mouraria

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The multi-scalar nature of urban security and public safety: Crime prevention from local policy to policing in Lisbon (Portugal) and Memphis (the United States)

The article contributes to recent discussions on convergence/divergence of local policies for urban security and public safety amid globalization, exploring comparatively local approaches to crime prevention and explaining differences/similarities through multilevel connections. I analyze situational prevention, social policy and proximity/community policing in two “not-so-global” metropolises: Lisbon, where security is the goal of a wide set of policies in many fields; and Memphis, where social problems have become security issues and policing the only game in town. Differing approaches are explained on the grounds of political traditions, neoliberalization of policy and multilevel relations among polities. I discuss implications for the relation between policy and policing: police attempts at social outreach amid coupling/decoupling of security with/from urban policy; and the “mission creep” of policing when it is expected to lead prevention. Conclusions advocate that policy reform is necessary at many levels to deal with the intersection of crime, retrenching welfare and aggressive policing in US cities such as Memphis.This research was supported by the Fundação para a Ciència e Tecnologia (Grants SFRH/BPD/86394/2012 and UID/SOC/50013/2013), a Fulbright Visiting Scholar grant (U.S.–Italy Commission) sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change (University of Memphis).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Imagining, and struggling in, Lisbon’s East Side

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