Theorising International Urban Politics

Abstract

Research across several disciplines has focused on the intersection between the international and the urban to shed light on transformations in global politics. Recently, this intersection has become the focus of critical International Relations scholars. Despite transversal interest, disciplinary boundaries often limit the scope of academic debate. In the interest of developing a transdisciplinary research agenda, this review article charts three different ways that scholars have theorised the relationship between the international, the urban, and the political across disciplines. A review of five recently published books, situated within a broader study of the literature, serves to do this.

The afterlives of state failure: echoes and aftermaths of colonialism

“…The concept of fragile cities first cursorily appeared in 2010 (Duijsens, 2010: 361), with visible links to the previous concept of ‘fractured cities’ (Koonings and Kruijt, 2007) or ‘divided cities’ (Walton, 1976). At the same time, the UN Inter-Agency Standard Committee (IASC) organised an event around ‘Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas’ (IASC, 2010), which contributed to the ‘turn to the city’ moment for international actors (Jerrems, 2020; Reid-Henry and Sending, 2014: 431). UN-Habitat (2007) had earlier released a report defining urban vulnerability and resilience.…”