Assemblage and Critical Urban Praxis - Part Four Introduction

摘要

In the last three issues City has hosted a discussion exploring what the concept of assemblage thinking might offer criti cal urbanism. This exchange was stimulated by Colin McFarlane's (2011a) paper 'Assem blage and Critical Urbanism' and a reply by Neil Brenner, David Madden and David Wachsmuth (2011) entitled 'Assemblage urbanism and the challenges of Critical Urban Theory'. In his paper, McFarlane argued that assemblage thinking complemen ted critical urban theory in three ways: by exerting a strong empirical focus on the pro cesses and practices through which urban life is produced; by foregrounding how the socio-materiality of cities shapes urban lives and inequalities; and by inspiring new critical urban imaginaries. In their reply Brenner et al. were receptive, in part, to the methodo logical experimentation that accompanied assemblage thinking, but were concerned that assemblage urbanism sidelined political economy and failed to acknowledge in full how capitalism shapes contemporary urbanisation.