Rethinking citizenship through cities

Jonathan DarlingSchool of Environment and Development

University of Manchester

‘…a right to a political space, a right to deliberate with others and participate in determining the fate of the polity

to which one belongs’ (Isin 1999:267)

InformalityInsurgency

Inhabitance

InformalityThe anonymity of the cityPiecemeal survival strategies Non-cooperation ordinances and urban refugees

Insurgency‘Acts of citizenship’ (Isin 2008)

Visible and disruptive displays of dissentDirected at urban authorities and at urban citizens

InhabitanceThe ‘right to the city’ (Lefebvre 1996)‘Grounded’ citizenship (Varsanyi 2006)

A focus on presence and collaboration as making cities

San Francisco Sanctuary City1989 ‘City of Refuge’ ordinance‘Immigration-status blind’ provision of servicesRefusing cooperation with federal immigration policingSince 2009 the SF City ID card available to all residents

The interstitial cityThe city and the state

The politics of critique

‘Cities have always had a social and a political identity separate from, though linked to, that of national identity and national government. Increasingly, cities have their own ‘governments’ which build their own relationships, have their own

networks and have a political presence both nationally and internationally. Cities have power. This provides opportunities for organisations that want to ensure

that those who are displaced can live in security’ (Tibaijuka, 2010, p.4)

Thanksjonathan.darling@Manchester.ac.uk

www.producingurbanasylum.com