The Faculty of Environmental Studies at York and the CITY institute jointly present a seminar by Stefan Kipfer (FES) entitled ‘Ghetto or not’ is the (only) question: Comparative research on the re-’colonization’ of space in Paris and Toronto”

This talk will give insight into an ongoing comparative research project on place-based strategies to territorialize social policy and break up the coherence of public housing estates in the Paris region and the City of Toronto. It will argue that such a project needs to develop a 'relational' (not an instrumental, strategic) comparative method, which sees that the neo-colonial dimensions of planning for social mixity in these urban regions are part of and help shape, transnational processes of racialized urbanism. Indeed, comparative debates about 'ghetto' and 'banlieue' are part of theses processes. For this purpose of developing such a relational comparison, it will advance a theoretical framework informed by Frantz Fanon and Henri Lefebvre as an alternative to other approaches, including political economies of municipally-managed gentrification and the neo-Weberian approach developed by Loic Wacquant.

This event will be held from 12:45-2:00pm in room 140, HNES Building on Tuesday, January 17th.