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I've been to HCMC and seen these rubble fields, probably not the Thu Thiem area, but similar still. I wish I could have understood all this about displacement and gentrification while I was there.

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Response to Claire - yes I was intrigued by the idea put forward by Harms that the displaced citizens agree in principle with the need for gentrification to create a 'beautiful' city, but contest the amount of financial compensation on offer, thereby, he argues, commodifying 'beauty'. Did they have any choice in the matter?

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In response to Nigel, I guess outdoor economy exists everywhere in the world but whether it would lead to direct action depends on the state's capacity to deal with the unprivileged. I think its kind of like redistribution of wealth and income, if there is a relatively just welfare system and political institution, and sufficient aid to the poor (like shelter home/ rent control, etc.), direct action against the authority will unlikely happen. So in my opinion this more or less only applies to developing world.

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694827, in response to Nigel and Ho Yee MaK

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694827, in response to Nigel and Ho Yee MaK

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I also thought it was interesting how Bayat introduced their theory on street politics in a middle eastern setting but brought in examples from cities all over the world. In regards to informal direction action being seen in most cities, I was confused on the authors opinion of this. They speak of the neoliberal city in many different forms (Johannesburg, Rio, Latin America) and I struggle to see which parts of their conclusions were region specific and which could be applied globally to neoliberal cities. I did find it interesting how they discussed neoliberalism's affect on middle class/government jobs in the Middle East, and how much of the workforce now has dispersed and informal jobs as the role of the state has reduced. I also was intrigued by the role of NGOs in this transition, as they stated "The NGO sector in essence mediates an orderly transition to marketization and commodification in the societies of the global South". The resulting three tier system of resource and social service allocation they discussed (state-private-NGO) left me wondering how the role of NGOs will continue to shape urban politics in the global south.

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I like Bayat's concept of 'street politics' - the informal 'non-movement' whereby the landless subalterns quietly encroach on the public spaces of the propertied, in a process of 'survival by repossession'. This form of informal direct action via an outdoors-economy can be seen in most cities, including London, and potentially mitigates some of the real-life problems arising from Harvey's 'accumulation by dispossession' theoretical concept.

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I also found the concept of ‘social-non movement’ fascinating because we tend to associate ‘stillness’ with passiveness/resignation, but this text shows us that it can be precisely the opposite. Made me recall Scott’s ‘Everyday forms of resistance', (which Harms uses for his own piece). Especially this part:

'An exclusive preoccupation with such categorical dichotomies as passive-active, or win-lose, can entrap our conceptual imagination, preventing us from exploring beyond and discovering much intricate ingenuities that the subaltern may discretely and quietly deploy to assert themselves and defend their lots' (p.119)

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I had no idea what a 'nail house' was. These pictures are quite shocking ...

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A dingzihu - or 'nail house' - is a home where the owner refuses to accept compensation from a property developer for its demolition. Here are some of the most striking

* Shanghai's left-behind older generation hark back to Mao

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China's nail houses: the homeowners who refuse to make way - in pictures

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A dingzihu - or 'nail house' - is a home where the owner refuses to accept compensation from a property developer for its demolition. Here are some of the most striking * Shanghai's left-behind older generation hark back to Mao

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I also really liked how they brought in examples from all over the world, and I could relate a what was being said to here in London.

One aspect which you picked up on was the role of NGOs, which I also have been having a bit of internal conflict with recently. Particularly, it's this feeling of the commodification of social issues, which NGOs perpetuate, and need, to survive in a neoliberal world. Why should it fall on the citizen to pay for (through charity or NGO donations) climate action, tackling homelessness or for medical research? - these are things that I believe should be paid for by the state. I felt like Bayat's paper helped lay the foundations as to why this is happening, and like you, I'm also interested in seeing how NGOs acquisition of power will shape urban politics in the years to come.

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Something that stood out to me was how Istanbul elites felt that rural poor migrants “ruralized and distorted” their “modern cities”. This conceptualises ‘rural’ as an abstract cultural identity embodied by certain people, rather than referring to a spatial realm. This was interesting to me as it opposes the familiar concept of ‘urban sprawl’ (a city expanding), by claiming that the city was actually shrinking due to the encroachment of ‘the rural’.

On a different note, I appreciated the satisfying underdog story that came through in the fact that “the subaltern unintentionally compel the disgruntled elites to retreat into their own safe havens” by being perpetually present in public spaces. It’s kind of like, the elites made their bed (by constructing securely guarded gated communities) and can now lie in it. Though, I hesitate to romanticise it further (as Bayat pointed out), since I am only able to find it satisfying because I am not living it myself, and I think their ingenuity should not necessarily be taken as a success story of neoliberalism.

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The redevelopment seems costly in an environmental regard, not just in a social or economic sense, as the tranquil wetlands, shade-bearing coconut palms and cool climate afforded by the riverfront breezes will be lost. I wonder if the artificial microclimate created by the air-conditioners will have to be reconfigured again in the future in order to conform to sustainable development goals, rendering the whole project pointless. 695806

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To respond to Anita, it is really fascinating about the potential policing of these green spaces and their exclusivity. I wonder how access to green spaces has tied into BLM defund the police rhetoric, if demanding lack of police presence in green public spaces would facilitate safer communities.

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Tom Gillespie's article on Accra is very interesting especially to me because Accra is my capital city so I could associate with a lot of what is said. But most of all because he calls for universal theories, made mostly based on the context of global north, not to be transposed in the global south.

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I found this piece fascinating, and followed a lot of the similar themes present in Harms' reading about HCMC. It really got me thinking about this concept of green gentrification, and how creating more green spaces, allegedly for the current residents, can create displacement for the same populations who are demanding it.

From the physical landscape, using geographical features as barriers (e.g. rivers as fences), to restricting opening hours, and even enforcing rules for what activities are permitted in this areas all lead to the idea that green spaces are a new way to control urban areas - and one that reproduces the very inequalities they claim to be addressing.

694963 Anita Lateano

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I found very interesting how difficult it was for the AJC to translate their idea of environmentalism, which was received and transformed into something quite different by the designers and the other stakeholders involved. The "didactic and pedagogic" element that imbues the projects does not reach its intended audience (kids throw gravel in the canal, rather than admire its functions), keeping the park open at night is not approved by all residents, while the design and the choice of the trees does not take into consideration the requests of some. How should the preferences of a community be researched and be actioned upon, beyond the short term agendas of the politicians across parties? Is it possible for a local community to take long lasting control of environmental plans?

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I found this piece interesting in the sense that I didn't realise that "sustainable" action per se could have so many layers of political, social and economic repercussions as well. This reading also tied in the other concepts of "accumulation by dispossession" and "beauty" as a means of control & perpetuating inequality from other readings for me as well. 695002

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In response to Nigel, I agree - did they have any choice in the matter? which also got me thinking would public participation be more of an appropriate method to undertake any kind of urban "beautification"? is there any sustainable and appropriate way to carry out this "upgrade" of a community - or is it doomed to perpetuate some kind of inequality? Kind of like the concept of negative freedoms? 695002.

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In response to Nigel - I feel that this holds as a very clear example of the illusion of choice for marginalised groups of people. The reality is that there is no choice in the matter, but there is a choice in how the displaced residents can go about accepting/rejecting these inevitable urban projects.
Roshni 637370.

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I resonated with this article as I found it engaging and easy to follow. I was particularly interested by the author’s argument that ideas of “beauty”, as well as terms such as “freedom” and “harmony” operate as modes of control over people as they make them see and understand things in a positive light, even if it doesn’t benefit them.

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I found this article really interesting because it is something that I have seen in every city that I have lived in and visited. It made me think of anti-homeless architecture and the impact that it would have on urban life.
(695001)

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I found this article really interesting as it showed us how beauty could me used to crate control. It also ties in well to Newmans article, where he talked about post-politics but we can see some form of counter-hegemony as well.
(695001)

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I think your point is really relevant, it seems to be unclear how much environmental awareness is behind this beautifying of the city. Temperatures will continue to rise in the future, especially in countries like Vietnam, yet cooling systems such as air conditioning, which are key pollutants, continue to be considered an essential part of building design. Although it is often needed, I remember being shocked at the excess usage of air conditioning being used in South East Asia. I also wonder whether it will not be a significant problem in the future and then have to be reconfigured. 694981

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What struck me most about this article is that even though it is situation in the Middle East, the issues that are drawn concerning the struggles of the subaltern in a neoliberal city is transferable on a global scale. The concepts of "urbicide" and the fragmentation of urban spaces describes a lived experience that my friends who have moved to London are undergoing now. Both Hayat and Harms emphasise this notion of the creation of beautiful, fresh, urban cities "for all", but the reality is that those very same areas are unwelcome for anyone less than middle class. How can such fragmentation be overcome? and if it is, will it completely redefine those spaces as being no longer "beautiful" or "fresh-aired"?
Roshni 637370.

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To your point on the generalisability of the conclusions drawn- I think they are, at their core, all generalisable. Even if you don't come from a place where gated communities, for example, are common, the way cities are structured creates accessibility issues. For example, I grew up in the northern beaches of Sydney, an area that includes one of the richest suburbs in Australia, the only way to get there is by bus and there are only two bus lines that get you to the most popular (and rich) destination- Palm Beach (Home and Away, anyone?). Those buses run quite infrequently and stop completely at night. This is on purpose, the people that live in the northern beaches bubble have no interest in making the place more accessible for tourists, be that overseas or regional, because they want to continue living their rich, activated-almond- avocado lifestyles. People are allowed to go there- there is no one stopping you, but it is made as difficult as possible to get there via public transport.

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I am actually quite shocked by the fact that the Vietnamese affected by the redevelopment projects were accepting the 'beauty' frame so much. I wonder why that was the case, whether it was related to culture or level of education.

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I really enjoyed reading this source. One of the points that struck me was about language use in terms of ecological /architectural development proposals. The importance of choosing the right words in order to present a 'project' in the 'best light' and decrease its susceptibility to internalised biases.

I also thought that the idea of approaching green spaces in reference to the triad of: horticulture, the human and the urban was interesting. Incorporating holistic, bottom up/participatory development practices into local neighbourhoods in the efforts to shift perceptions of 'ghettoisation' and to encourage community engagement. Making  urban green spaces inclusive and not demarcations of division.

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Yes I get what you mean about being able to draw global parallels to Bayat's research. For me, I kept thinking about Paris and how often underprivileged people live in the banlieues (suburbs) of the city which are poorly connected and underfunded. Moreover, I think the 2005 riots could even perhaps in part be understood by Bayat's analogy of how often when people don't trust the electoral power they'll use their institutional power to demand change but when subaltern groups don't have this institutional power they turn to the streets to express dismay instead. Although like Bayat says, I think whilst certain broad brushstrokes like this can be drawn it's important that analysis is done at specific culture level to fully understand their specific subjectivities and the different ways in which groups in different countries/cities address their exclusion. 694871

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This article illustrates well that the 'urban subaltern... are structurally disempowered by the capitalist logic, the power of the state, and global economic structure' and makes for a slightly depressing read in that regard. I don't buy into Davis' argument that radical Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are progressive forces, or the optimism that global slums will explode as some historic force. I think Bayat takes a very nuanced position about the ways in which the dispossessed can develop agency in what is a very unfortunate position, entrapped in Neoliberal cities.

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I enjoyed the writing and research. I found the statements from the different interviewees really helpful. Providing the different points of views from the people affected by the rebuilding of the District. The shared concept of beauty by the citizens is really interesting. "Often the same dream on how the city should look like". I would've love to understand better the causes of this phenomena. As Ho Yee Mak (695106) said, related to culture? level of education? Perhaps, as proposed in the text, the longing of a better city like the ones in more "developed" countries.
Nevertheless, I didn't really agree with the idea of "beauty" as control. The government have the control and power to move people. As Nigel (65504) said, what was the choice for the displaced? Maybe beauty helps to excuse the governmental plans, but clearly the control is already there.

Tito (696601)

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This article reminds me why I wanted to learn social anthropology. As a former marketing specialist, I worked for a real-estate company and my daily life was to create 'community'- the community for middle class, the community for working class, etc.- which in some extend was the process of separating people according to their monetary ability and social status. But those business elite and policy makers rarely examine life of subaltern, which made me puzzled and confused.

This article not only gave a detailed illustration of subaltern life, and also showed their strategy of 'survival by repossession'. This part reminds me the humble peddlers and squatter houses, which I rarely pay attention to. Some people above comment that the some parts of the conclusion may not applied globally. I agree. Each region has their forms. But still I believe that street politics is a universal phenomenon, more or less in their specific forms. As Long as there is social hierarchy, there is 'dispossession' and 'repossession'.

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I agree with you. I think that survival by repossession is an important addition to the concept of street politics. As you say, this process can potentially mitigate some of the effects of dispossession, however, as a non-movement, I think that this only serves as a survival mechanism rather than having any emancipatory potential.

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This article left me feeling very disheartened by how states all too often favour capitalist, neoliberal ideologies over the welfare of their people. Harms highlighted how displaced residents are presented with an illusion of choice and often failed to be justly compensated especially for non-tangible assets such as long-term loss of income or social networks.
On a (potentially) more positive note, I read in the news this week that China has said it will restrict smaller cities from building “super skyscrapers”, as part of a broader crackdown on “vanity projects” and to reduce energy consumption. Do you think initiatives like this one put forward from the Chinese government will help put local communities at the heart of decisions for future development projects?
Amy 694871

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Although I found the beginning of the article a little dense, by the end I felt pretty convinced by Bayat's arguments on encroachment and repossession. As others have commented, it is a situation which is recognisable across the world, despite the article's focus on the Middle East.

I would also be really interested in learning more about these concepts as applied to illegal immigration/refugees, who are arguably subjects of both 'inside-outing' and 'enclosure'. (695716)

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Bosco Verticale in Milan (Vertical Forest) & the High Line in NYC as examples of Eco-Gentrification (687127)

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Bosco Verticale in Milan (Vertical Forest) & the High Line in NYC as examples of Eco-Gentrification (687127)

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https://medium.com/climate-conscious/the-dangers-of-eco-gentrification-82e4e45a2bd7

I had never thought of these places in terms of eco-gentrification. I am now reassessing my opinion about both projects. In Milan, to live in Bosco Verticale costs  Eur 14,000/sq metre , twice as much as the average price in the area. As a result, celebrities, football players and wealthy expats live in the area. Likewise, in NYC along the High Line residential prices have doubled up.  I wonder where the previous inhabitants have moved to.
(Elena 687127)

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Greener isn't always fairer.

Bosco Verticale, photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash

Two years ago, I dragged my family halfway across Milan to see an apartment block. It was 31°C, we were near the end of a two-week holiday in Italy and my sister would far rather have sat in the shade, eating ice-cream.

In my defense, Bosco Verticale isn't any old apartment block - technically it's a pair of apartment blocks in the...

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Two years ago, I dragged my family halfway across Milan to see an apartment block. It was 31°C, we were near the end of a two-week holiday in Italy and my sister would far rather have sat in the shade, eating ice-cream.

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I really enjoyed this article, the style and format was accessible. I was particularly interested in how Bayat empowers the alienated poor through the "extension of solidarity", how the public spaces have become an environment for engagement and resistant and not merely "passive" spaces of exclusion. In response to George in response to Nigel, how this "non-movement" serves as a survival mechanism rather than having any emancipatory potential - I would disagree. I think they have real material affects - an accumulation of such micro forms of resistance (whether unconsciously so and unorganised) form the necessary foundation for potential dissent. Dissent is a form of survival, and surviving in this way is somewhat emancipatory. I don't believe these two things are mutually exclusive but rather a necessary response to structural violence. I see non-movements as a central to creating movements. I like how Bayat emboldens the mundanity of everyday practices of micro-resistance.

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In response to Ho Yee Mak and Tito by 694824( Yunshan Li)

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In response to Ho Yee Mak and Tito by 694824( Yunshan Li)

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Thank you for raising this question. I read through the comments and realized that there is no one caring why Vietnamese accepted the definition of 'beauty' easily. It seems so strange to me, because I have visited a lot of traditional streets in China as a part of my job, where the resident are proud of their transformation of the blocks and showed boredom towards the same skyscrapers and modern gardens. Maybe the reaction of Vietnamese is already the result of 'control' for many years? is that the colonial legacy?

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I enjoyed Bayat's article, especially his description of the complexities of the 'city inside-out' and 'street politics.' I found the idea that, through pushing back on the elite via 'survival by repossession,' those who are rich and powerful are constantly having to close themselves off to enclaves within cities. It struck me that those who were once pushed to the side and forced into enclaves (the subaltern), are now exerting that exact motion on their richer counterparts.

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Peru's so-called 'Wall of Shame' or 'Wall of Inequality'

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Peru's so-called 'Wall of Shame' or 'Wall of Inequality'

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The concept of 'gated communities' used by Bayat made me think of this. In my hometown, a 10 km barbed wire wall splits two contrasting realities sharing bordering sides of the same hill. On one area, one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the city, on the other, one of the poorest.

Here's a short coverage of the story (2:30 minutes), with images and testimonies from both sides.

- MJ 685585

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🇵🇪 Peru's 'wall of shame' keeping rich and poor apart | Al Jazeera English

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Yunshan Li, your suggestion that Vietnamese's acceptance of  the beauty imposed upon them may be due to cultural/historical factors is very interesting. I think that Harms' mention of the Kinshasa residents, similarly enthusing over the beauty of the same projects that will displace them, offers a different point of view.
Both communities dream of global inclusion and modernity: perhaps it is the desire of escape from their postcolonial subalternity that makes them accept this vision of beauty, in spite of its high cost on their family.
(Elena 687127)

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I am really curious about the different consequences of demolishing. In the context of China, especially in the first-rank cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the urban expansion and coming with demolishing is a great cause of a twisted fortune redistribution. A new project always means the birth of a group of new wealth. I think that is an example of “neoliberal governmentality,” in which authority depends on aligning individual desires

with core ideologies.

Wang Jiageng 694929

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In my opinion, the games of development in Chinese cities are basically among the senior officials who are representing the central government, the local bureaucrats, and both nationwide and local capitals. It is really interesting to talk about how reactions among above parties have profoundly moulded cultures of a city.

However, I think local communities have little room to express their opinions.

Wang Jiageng 694929

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"Beauty" as a branding to manufacturing consent (694529)

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"Beauty" as a branding to manufacturing consent (694529)

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I think the notion of "beauty" here is brought by government to convince the citizen the idea of betterment. While to some extent it may be true, hence the practice is mostly to manufacturing consent of the people so they would accept minimum compensation and willing to relocate. Atomized dissent is a form of resistance from the people and could be an effective way to delay or modify the plan. It is also important to see the purpose of the land, whether for public infrastructure of private commercial, to decide the compensation or valuation of the land by the land owners. (Surya -  694529)

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Seeing "the Art of Presence" as a form of resistance. 

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Seeing "the Art of Presence" as a form of resistance. 

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235786/ Darla Rudakubana

In the end, I like Bayat's argument that neoliberal urbanity does not only benefit the elite, capital-driven inhabitants of major cities (especially in the global south). It exposes gaps within the state's reach (the retreat of the state birthing a 3 tier state, with governance shared between state-private sector-NGOs), and subsequently creates a situation where the most vulnerable are forced to seek alternative ways of survival & recognition. The creation of "soft states" as a result of the need to survive in urban spaces, through Bayat's argument, can be seen as a form of resistance (as opposed to being a by-product of market-driven urbanity) from those rejected by the system. The street hawkers, the slums/informal settlements, as a few examples, serve to mark this group's presence - In other words, them saying that where there is no action on our behalf, we will take direct action and create "invisible" systems that serve and enable us to be part of urban life/ make us visible. I believe this is what Bayat meant by the idea that urban spaces are a site for a battle for hegemony.

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I found this article fascinating, for many of the same reasons expressed above: the subaltern capacity in the middle East to resist through non-movement, a quotidian approach of attrition employed in illiberal states where additionally forms of rule breaking such as bribery of state officials are ironically par for the course and must be utilised by the poor so that they may have any type of life in public space; the only space in which they survive socially and economically.  How long can their presence last, however, without some kind of forced mass exodus? I would like to hear/read more on the intersection between these communities of non-movement and migrants, whose very definition if one of movement.
683385

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What strikes me the most about this article is the lack of empathy felt between people going through very similar processes of dispossession. However, at the same time, it is very understandable that when our individual survival -or that of our loved ones- is at stake, it is difficult to look at the 'larger processes connecting our fates' (736) and perhaps try to resist them collectively. I always wonder if these are accidental outcomes or deliberate efforts put forward by the developers in order to fragment the citizens and prevent mass mobilisations.

MJ - 685585

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I would agree with Surya 694529 in that beauty is a government tactic of manipulation in convincing the soon to be displaced citizen of a notion of betterment. Perhaps, I think, this goes hand in hand with the idea of urban beautification being an emblem of progress and 'for the good of all'. But I also agree with Ho Yee Mak 695106, in that the specifics of these particular Vietnamese people's social and cultural makeup could have been expanded upon further so as to gain a better understanding of their conception of beauty which in this case leads to, 'spatial cleansing'. Perhaps even words like cleansing are attractive, as are the words, 'green' and 'clean' which may all be utilised in the rhetoric of political manipulation. 683385

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I found this piece frustrating but also really interesting how beautification is used as a state tool to dispossess and misguide residents. The warped projection of beauty and breathability despite residents recognising the immediate beauty and breathability "air-con" is interesting, it's very manipulative. I think it really highlights the idea of the banality of evil, making the human superfluous and atomising social issues. Bureaucracy is the devil haha

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I think checker explains really well how de-politicised sustainability has become and simultaneously a tool to push technocratic development. I think much like in the Harms reading, Planners are the art of governmentality. It shows how the public interest for climate justice is being co-opted by technocracy.

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This is a great example of a fascination with routines in "developing" nations that are 'alien concepts' for an individual from a "developed" nation. The tone, the voice, the writing style. 

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This is a great example of a fascination with routines in "developing" nations that are 'alien concepts' for an individual from a "developed" nation. The tone, the voice, the writing style. 

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I've decided to go out on a limb this time for a change, and be a bit more unfiltered and critical. *NOTE* I am yet to learn more about Harms' work. I am not sure if Erik Harms is from the west. But his writing does feel that way. Not trying to generalise. I am strictly sharing my take based on this 1 piece. I felt like Harms was intrigued, fascinated with these aggressive "urbanisation processes". He has almost excessively romanticised it in his style of writing. For eg: "Juxtaposed against the expanding fields of rubble, set against the widening wasteland of sun-scorched former waterways, billboards, and images of the modern plan stand out like icons....".

Personally, I have spent most of my years experiencing such rapid urbanisation practices in my country. My close friend has watched a bulldozer break the ceiling of his rented "unregistered" apartment. Have seen families relocate due to redevelopment work.

It isn't an accurate portrayal. I feel Harms is so taken by the new-ness and absurdity of this process, that he has spent way to much time subconsciosly breaking down his emotions through his writing vs diving deep into the complexity and chaos of the actions on ground.

I can see how "beauty" in terms of development / architecture across several cultures, have some level of alignment. The world has already pushed this idea of "modernisation" as the most beautiful "upgrade" that you can have. Dissecting the idea of beauty and being fascinated with how all the locals found the new construction plans beautiful while it destroyed them, shouldn't be such a big "AHA" moment.

He attempts to show co-relations between beauty and power. I feel he doesn't really back them with deeper reasoning. It's more of a feeling and surface-level connections.

Harish Subramanian 695003

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This article made me think about my hometown of Halifax, West Yorkshire. Despite not being a ‘city’, Bayat’s city-inside-out analysis still has prominence. Halifax (like many British towns/cities) has seen a dramatic rise in the privatisation of sectors, unemployment due to the reduction of manual labour jobs (wool trade) that use to shape the towns infrastructure. Harvey’s “accumulation by dispossession” argument perfectly reflects my experience of witnessing new commercial buildings being built as affordable council flats were simultaneously being demolished. More and more people relay on charities and underfunded council resources to live, whilst the centre of the town is ‘booming’ with new life after successful commercial initiatives, such as The Piece Hall, are funnelling money into the centre elite. However, I don’t think the neoliberal process has been intense enough to create any form of “street politics” or “social non-movements.” I argue the lack of grassroots mobilization is due to the slow onset nature of the neoliberal impacts, along with similarities with many northern towns and cities, thus creating an era of 21st century normality. Paul Chatterton et al 'Recasting Urban Governance through Leeds City Lab: Developing Alternatives to Neoliberal Urban Austerity in Co-production Laboratories', focuses on the city of Leeds (20 minutes from my home of Halifax). This article would be interesting to read and hopefully expand on what I have said above. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12607

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Leeds City Lab acknowledges the funding support of the N8 and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. The authors thank the IJURR reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments at review stage.

Abstract

This article reports on a research project, Leeds City Lab, that brought together partner organizations to explore the meanings and practices of co-production in the context of urban change. Our intention is to offer a response to the crisis in urban governance by combining the growing academic and practitioner debates on co-production and urban laboratories in order to explore radically different institutional personae that can respond to deficits in contemporary urban governance, especially relating to participation and disenfranchisement, and ultimately unlock improved ways of designing, managing and living in cities. Our analysis has identified four key ways in which co-production labs can recast urban governance to more progressive ends: by moving beyond traditional organizational identities and working practices, embracing grey spaces of new civic interfaces, foregrounding emotions and power and committing to durable solutions. Ultimately, what we point towards is that urban governance can be more effectively enacted in co-production labs that bring together universities and the public, private and civil society sectors on a basis of equality, trust and openness. These spaces have the potential to unlock a city's knowledge, resources and assets, to unpack complex challenges and to build capacity to deliver improved city-wide solutions.

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Recasting Urban Governance through Leeds City Lab: Developing Alternatives to Neoliberal Urban Austerity in Co‐production Laboratories

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Leeds City Lab acknowledges the funding support of the N8 and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. The authors thank the IJURR reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments at review stage. This article reports on a research project, Leeds City Lab, that brought together partner organizations to explore the meanings and practices of co-production in the context of urban change.

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In this paper the author sheds a different light on gentrification for me. It is a concept I am very familiar with in a more Western context like in the Netherlands and the UK, but I have not reflected on the way it takes shape in the Middle East. What I especially enjoyed about the article was the emphasis it had on the agency of the people affected by the increasing privatization of the cities. Despite their seemingly shrinking space in the city, people find new ways to claim space. Discussions of gentrification (that I have read and participated in) often focus on the official ways in which the process takes place and the consequences thereof. This article, however, highlights that the poor people of the city find the loopholes in the system in order to continue claiming space and build lives. I also found the link between the "subaltern" in Middle Eastern cities and illegal migrants in Western countries especially interesting. In this comparison the author claims that the "subaltern" in Middle Eastern cities need to find ways to build lives in a society that leaves less and less room for them to do this the legal route, similar to how illegal migrants elsewhere build lives along similar trajectories. The gentrification that is described in the Bayat reading takes on a significantly different shape than the gentrification as described by Harms in the context of Saigon. This highlights that differing state interests dictate a differently organized urban space. In the context of Saigon eviction are taking place because of increased municipalization  for the sake of "beauty" whereas the evictions in Middle Eastern cities are the result of an increased privatization engendered by neoliberalism.

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[Response to Nigel Jeffery 655044] by Harish Subu 695003

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[Response to Nigel Jeffery 655044] by Harish Subu 695003

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Yes. "street politics" is an interesting way to define this game. I love the fact that it's something almost all countries and societies have no-matter how controlled you are. I am sure a country like Singapore also has an interesting subculture that battles it out on ground. (brought up singapore, because its a great example of a country that is known for its immaculate control. Cheers!

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It took me some time to get into this article but once I did I really enjoyed Bayat's approach to defining the concept of street politics. His theoretical but visual descriptions of spatial make-up in a neo-liberal urban context led to questions of politics, class, race, expression, and economic and social life. The multi-national examples he gives enables us as the reader to think about the physical and social context of places and spaces we have seen and experienced within a city, perhaps places we have lived where too the streets forge identity, manage movement and become a means of communication, class, business and life.

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I really really loved all the readings for this week, I found them all really fascinating and engaging. This Checker essay made me interrogate the ways I thought about environmental justice and situate this within the larger paradox of trying to address inequality and environmental crisis in late stage capitalism (eg. How does one fix a problem that is caused or exacerbated by neoliberal capitalism while necessarily operating under that structure). I feel that the paradox this essay highlights where environmental justice activism that has great intentions of making areas greener by building more parks for example, yet inadvertently creates gentrification by making areas more appealing to wealthier residents and corporations can lead to a larger discussion of the issue with a technocratic/ eco modernism approach to the climate crisis.

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In response to Harish.
I agree with your sentiment that the author seems to relatively uncritically assume that the inhabitants overall agreed with the project of "beautifying" the city. As a reader I still feel oblivious to the mechanics and logic behind people agreeing with the idea of a project for the sake of beauty that entails the uprooting of you and your family's life and home.

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I found Checkers article interesting especially her use of GreenX:Change in Harlem as an example. Her in-depth descriptions of the residents responses and personalisation of environmental gentrification, really brought home the complexity and importance of city infrastructure policies. It made me rethink how I view ‘green projects’ that are constantly promised by governments. I would have ignorantly supported environmentally sustainable policies without thinking too much into the negative direct impacts on the people specifically located within them. The importance of local people to be integrated in these future projects, displaying their opinions, enhances local politics, democracy, and basic rights. As we enter into a global rush to 'build green', we can't prioritise (supposedly) environmentally sustainable projects over the livelihoods of local people.

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I agree that the way the government is using the term beauty as a way of branding these new developments is definetly a good example of slight manipulation/ manufacturing consent. But I am not sure if what they plan to do with the land should impact how much people are compensated (if that is what you're suggesting). At the end of the day, regardless of what the government does with the land, people are being kicked out/coerced out of their communities and homes and should be compensated fairly (or not forced out in the first place). (695065)

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This street politics that Bayat argued very well here is seen everywhere, especially in most of the cities of the global south. Bayat argued that this does not necessary lead to violence as some thinkers put out, however, I think when the subalterns' situation is not well negotiated, it always leads to violence. In some cases, the state comes in to control the street politics and if this control is not well measured, this leads to violence.

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I found it particularly interesting how Bayat observes the "enncroachment" of the rural poor on the city. There is a larger point about how the cumulative consequence of individual migrants essentially creates tangible social change; especially related to the pervasive effect of neoliberal capitalism. (612049)

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This reading made me rethink the way that I want to invest in a space. It makes me think about informal economies and the circumstances that force and foster various ways of gaining resources. Is anyone else rethinking not only their relationship to state but their relationship to Neoliberalism. I wish I had more time and energy to invest in this topic.

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Response to MJ (685585)-
MJ articulated something I was also considering, that is, to what extent is it intentional that potential resistance is fragmented (atomised)?

This thought also came up when reading the Newman piece; although obviously they had to petition hard for the gardens, the result was also favourable to the French government as a whole, in disrupting ethnically diverse areas of Paris.
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This is humankind’s ‘great urbanisation’. We must do it right, or the planet will pay

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The world will never again build cities as rapidly as it does this century. If we are serious about limiting global warming, tackling air pollution and promoting innovative, resource-efficient growth, there is a narrow window of opportunity

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Not sure I agree. The pursuit of beauty is not necessarily a desire to control...

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Not sure I agree. The pursuit of beauty is not necessarily a desire to control...

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235786/Darla Rudakubana

I see and find Harms' arguments interesting, though I don't think I fully agree. The idea that the pursuit, by governments/cities, of beauty is a strategy to control residents, I believe, is a distraction from certain issues. In some cases, this push to beautify is a strategy to draw global attention/attract investment and tourism - and eventually improve the lives of citizens. The issue that needs more attention (as opposed to this focus on the need to beautify as a form of control) is how and why the strategy to beautify cities overrides other strategies for development, considering its potential consequences if not well managed. Interested to hear what others have to say on this during our tutorial.

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Eliza 686948
I agree with you 695065 and jane (695008). To further both your thoughts on environmental justice and the eco modernist approach to the climate crisis - the readings for this week in particular this one and Bayat’s, have also brought me to think about climate justice. Inequality and climate change – bringing us back to a question of justice and how those contributing to climate change the least are being affected by it the most. Climate justice = social justice.

Checkers’s article reminds us of this in an urban environment – where leisure, green spaces and clean air are becoming privatised and projects like GreenX:Change are much more complex than we first think. This Article reminds us of the importance of an anthropological approach to environmental sustainability, we must also focus on the local people living within these areas and the negative impacts that such projects can have on peoples livelihoods in cities (and indigenous communities).

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Agreeing with a lot of the comments, I found this article very interesting and particularly found the acceptance of the beautification by the population very interesting. I would like to know more about why the residents accepted it. Also as previous comments mentioned, I wonder how much of a say the communities had in these decisions to beautify.

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I really enjoyed this article and found it interesting how people in different areas of the city agreed with the ideas of 'beautification' when surveyed but were very unhappy with how the project was being conducted. It was intriguing how the price being offered on houses differed so much and how that affected the legal process of getting higher offers on a case by case basis.

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In this essay, the author mentions that the privatization of streets and neighborhoods can lead to the lost of access to the public spaces which inhabitants use as the places for working, socializing and entertaining. And it just reminds me of my experience during the first week when I came to London, I was wandering on the street at night and thinking about heading for the park to enjoy some leisure time by myself. However, when I finally arrived at the park, I found it was closed which made me really confused. Back in China, most of the parks never close and the benches in the park are often occupied by the homeless people. Unless there is an inspection from the superiors, both park working stuff and ordinary people just enjoy and share the public spaces together with them and will not force them to leave.

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I think the notion of creating a beautiful, fresh urban cities sometimes could be quite illusionary and toxic. The more this kind of imagination is taken for granted, the more uncomfortable one will feel when they see the public spaces are occupied by the "unwelcome" people. Other than focusing on the creating this utopian imagination, demolishing the prejudice and bringing more facts about the real lived experience of people from different parts of the society might be more helpful.  Tingting Ye 695184

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As I read this piece, I couldn't help but equate every single thing Bayat spoke of with my home, Mumbai. What resonated most with me, was the author's description of the emergence of 'street politics', embodied in Dharavi, the largest slum of Asia, housed in the heart of Mumbai city. The issues highlighted in the paper are also reflected in great measure in the critique that the Dharavi Development Project has received over the years from various stakeholders - community members, urban planners and academics. Have linked a recent article here to understand the interlocking issues that Dharavi residents face.

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Redevelopment plans for Dharavi are focused on high rises. COVID-19 crisis underlines critics’ concerns about blinkered approach-India News , Firstpost

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In the post-COVID world, how much would design and structural modifications in places like Dharavi, contribute to bringing about substantial change in the living conditions of people living in overcrowded slums? Journalist and researcher Dipti Nagpaul explores.

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695224 - In response to George’s response to Nigel 

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695224 - In response to George’s response to Nigel 

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I liked Bayat’s idea about how the non-movement and people’s unorganized every day actions can lead to societal change. However, as much as this might lead to some sort emancipatory potential, I feel, as George says, like it is mainly a survival mechanism in which they are forced into. The subaltern repossess the public spaces because they have no other choice. I had some difficulties with the idea that the elites are “forced” into their indoors “safe-havens”: I feel like it makes more sense seeing it the other way around, since it is the elites that have created a lifestyle indoors which is not accessible for the subaltern. The elite could participate in life on public spaces if it wanted to, while the subaltern do not have the means to enter the indoor spaces and are therefore forced outdoors. (695224)

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694599 - Kavita Natarajan (In response to 695008)

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694599 - Kavita Natarajan (In response to 695008)

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Agree with your observations on Checkers article. Her narrative style of exposing the outcomes of her ethnographic study really showcases the realities faced by the community and makes for a very engrossing read. I was previously unaware as well on what the political agendas behind sustainability projects in high population density cities could be. It was quite an eye-opener, and reminds me of a previous discussion we have had, constantly reminding us of the human and non-human objects in an environment that shape the lives of communities that live in it. Sustainable development cannot function with blinders on.

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I found it very interesting to see how the environmentalism behind the creation of a park can be seen in two such different ways, and how a project that at the beginning seems like such a good and straightforward idea, turns into a complex debate over political and social issues. Seeing how the ACJ’s idea of the “environmental park” was concerned with the necessities of the specific community, while the architects’ park was concerned with a more global sustainability, made me further realize the complexity and different layers behind any environmental project.
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Like other classmates have mentioned, I am also wondering about the details of the role of NGOs and other organisations. This article does a great job of explaining simply and accessibly how the neoliberal economy restructures urban life and it has made me wonder, as someone who wants to be involved in NGO work and has felt some discomfort about the idea as I learn more, about whether that is indeed a viable and sustainable path to helping people meet their needs in a neoliberal international as well as national order. 676013

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This reading reminded me a lot of the discourse circulating around the start and middle of lockdown (admittedly it is hard to have a good handle on time these days), with the idea of elites being forced into safe havens. When applying the context of the pandemic to this, it really underlines the point made by 695224 that rather it is the subaltern is forced to repossess and having the option to be 'forced' into a safe haven to wait out the pandemic is a privilege not afforded to everyone. Perhaps I'm being pedantic about the point of framing and while I don't disagree with the essence of the argument Bayat makes, I do think highlighting framing is important. We've seen how it carries consequence with the quick shift of minimum wage 'unskilled' labour to 'essential worker' who is forced into a position of vulnerability. (676013)

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The reading was very eye-opening for me. I was not aware of the extent of social and economic affects that would be caused by neoliberal restructuring. I really enjoyed the part on he Middle-east. I also found Bayat's argument about neoliberal urbanity not only benefiting the elite extremely interesting. (695995)

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I resonated with it as well and found the part about the ideas of beauty argument to be intriguing. It is interesting to think that some things that are considered "positive" can sometimes cause harm as well. (695995)

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I can relate myself to the idea mentioned in page 116 related to   “check-points” and “barriers,” and the fact that  neoliberal
cities cease to be spaces of ﬂâneurs, or the free ﬂow of inhabitants in
the urban expanse.
Also I see that this really exist all over the world even without being so obvious such as check points just drive one road and then drive another road with different class and you will notice the difference . The "privatization of streets and neighborhoods means that “outsiders” lose access to these exclusive places, while the threat of real and imagined crime and violence restricts the movement of the rich,as well as ordinary people, notably women, into many areas of these cities" this is absolutely write especially how it effects women and more marginalized groups .I found the article so real and tackled the issue of inequality very well .

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I think Checker illuminates a controversial yet vitally important paradox of sustainable development as it pertains to true environmental justice.

"Green projects" like GreenX Change very often operate in that profit-driven, market-centered framework that has been known to create very lopsided economic effects.

This piece makes me think of the comparison between eco-socialism and eco-fascism. The former being focused on creating equitable sustainable living systems and the latter doing so only for a certain elite class.

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This is what Bayat's piece left me thinking about as well – as someone who is currently working for a political NGO and plans to continue in that trajectory after this course.

Civil society as this sort of pawn for  neoliberal private industry is I think only one iteration, albeit a powerful one, of what NGOs can accomplish under this framework.

I think we'd agree that these sort of issues can't be tackled without wide scale systemic change and a departure from neoliberal policy, but in a political and social system entrenched in neoliberal ideology it's very hard to accomplish that – the hope is that some parts of civil society can potentially get enough people serious about alternatives.

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With regard to your question about the community's role in environmental policies in the city. It seems to me that the institutionalisation of environmental politics has made it difficult for grassroots organisations representing the community to partake in political dialogue with private partners and political representatives. Strikingly, at no point in the making of the park did the AJE concretely address the issues raised by the people of West-African or Maghrebi descent who live there. However, given the politicisation and (as a consequence) the mediatisation of this urban project, political representatives were more focussed on making good publicity for their 'green politics' instead of actually addressing the social and cultural needs of the population of North-East Paris. Hence, what was meant to be a 'living space' for the people there, became a showcase of urban innovation in sustainable development. (694741)

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Having lived in Saigon myself for years which were also during the time when Thu Thiem project fiasco unfolded, this article satisfactorily contextualized and organized my understanding of the situation there. What I would also like to add is that the concept of urban beauty pushed by land-taking/accumulating authorities and land losing/dispossessed residents is very much a westernized concept of beauty. This was implied in the article with references to the developers' hiring of French and Japanese American consulting firms, as well as the compliments a Vietnamese student paid to the architecture of Seoul, a very much Westernized city. The planning of Thu Thiem shows modern glass-laden high-rises and apartment complex as opposed to Vietnamese tube houses and characteristic alley ways of lives. This reflects a degree of inferiority complex held by both the authorities and residents. Their description of Thu Thiem beauty is very different from that of Seoul, for example - it is breathy, windy and there's no need for air conditioners (context: it can get super hot in Saigon. There's no winter in southern Vietnam). The residents' internal inferiority complex unfortunately deals an unfortunate card for them - they voluntarily or made to believe in a foreign, Westernized beauty but it is this lack of confidence on the Vietnamese own urban beauty that has led to their predicament.

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Regarding what 694827 was wondering about the role of NGOs in shaping urban politics in the global south, this is also something that I wonder. In the climate of three-tier (state-private-NGO), you have got NGO to be presumably the most benevolent and altruistic actor, yet they can be ineffectual.

Bayat defined the “neoliberal city'' to be ''a market-driven urbanity'' which is ''shaped more by the logic of Market than the needs of its inhabitants'', ''responding  more  to  individual  or  corporate  interests than public concerns''. This implies a handshake between state and private sectors. To me, this article complements nicely with Harms' paper about Thu Thiem residents. The ways residents have been pushing back (both in the realm of the article and in the ongoing reality) can be explained by Bayat's strategies of street politics and 'non-movement'. In reality, Thu Thiem residents have employed both - by marching towards government official buildings to demand justice for years-long due land compensation and with non-movements (sticking around, moving to another area to rebuild their lives). Thu Thiem project is a very high-profile socio-political case in Vietnam. The injustice has cost many officials to lose their power, including one of the most powerful government officials in Saigon at the time. He lost his seat last year. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/former-hcmc-party-chief-loses-position-over-urban-planning-violations-4072534.html

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VnExpress International - Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam

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Le Thanh Hai, former HCMC Party Secretary, has retroactively lost his position for violations in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project.

A decision to the effect was issued by the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party at a Friday meeting following recommendations from the Central Inspection Committee, the Party's top watchdog.

During Hai's time as a member of the Politburo and HCMC's Party Secretary from 2010-2015, he was mainly responsible for violations committed by the city's Party unit in leading and directing implementation of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project, inspectors said.

He was found to have violated the principle of democratic centralism, the Party unit's working regulations and to have made wrongful decisions under the jurisdiction of the Party unit's standing committee.

Additionally, during his time as Deputy Party Secretary, Secretary of the Party Affairs Committee and Chairman of HCMC from 2001-2006, Hai was mainly responsible for violations committed by the city's People's Committee, the inspectors said. They concluded that he had directly signed a number of documents that were in contravention of the policies of the municipal People's Council, the 2002 Law on State Budget and the 2003 Law on Construction.

At Friday's conference, the Politburo and the Secretariat also reprimanded Le Hoang Quan, former Deputy Party Secretary, former Secretary of the Party Affairs Committee and former Chairman of HCMC.

Quan was held responsible for violations committed by the standing committee of the city's Party unit for the term 2010-2015, as well as violations committed by the city's Party Affairs Committee and People's Committee for the term 2011-2016 in the deployment and implementation of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project.

He was found to have made decisions and issued directions and policies as also signing a number of documents that were in contravention of regulations. Quan was lax in his management, inspection and monitoring tasks, allowing multiple violations to be committed by the People's Committee, the inspectors said.

The standing committee of HCMC's Party unit for the term 2010-2015 as a whole was also reprimanded for violating the democratic centralism principle and working regulations, being irresponsible and lax in its leadership, directing, management, inspection and monitoring tasks, allowing multiple violations to occur over a long period of time in the implementation of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project.

These violations were concluded to have "negatively affected the reputation of the city's Party unit and administration, causing public distress."

Earlier this month, the Central Inspection Committee also reprimanded Nguyen Thi Hong, former member of the standing committee of HCMC's Party unit, former member of the municipal Party Affairs Committee and former Vice Chairwoman of HCMC. The committee had recommended punishments for Hai, Quan and the municipal Party unit's standing committee for the 2010-2015 term.

Two other former HCMC officials were also found to have committed violations in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project that merited reprimands. However, they were not disciplined as their violations had been committed more than five years before the issue was investigated.

The Communist Party of Vietnam has four modes of punishment against members: reprimand, warning, demotion and expulsion.

Violations around compensation and resettlement in the Thu Thiem area have made headlines in the country since 2018. It reached its climax in May 2018 when residents lodged their complaints with tears and frustration at a meeting with the city's legislators, which went on late into the night.

The Thu Thiem New Urban Area is envisaged as one of the biggest international financial and commercial centers in Southeast Asia. To develop the megaproject, HCMC spent 10 years relocating 15,000 households, paying out nearly VND30 trillion ($1.3 billion) in compensation.

However, the project has been caught up in a relocation scandal as more than 100 affected families said their houses were not included in the demolition list according to the original planning map drawn up in 1996 and approved by the prime minister.

Government inspectors have since uncovered multiple violations committed by HCMC authorities, including: wrongfully reclaiming 4.3 hectares (10.6 acres) of land outside the project's area; giving lands designated for resettlement to 51 companies to do business; approving capital and advancing payments for build-transfer projects in contravention of regulations.

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former hcmc party chief loses position over urban planning violations - vnexpress international

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Former HCMC Party chief loses position over urban planning violations - VnExpress International

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Le Thanh Hai, former HCMC Party Secretary, has retroactively lost his position for violations in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project. A decision to the effect was issued by the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party at a Friday meeting following recommendations from the Central Inspection Committee, the Party's top watchdog.

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235786/Darla Rudakubana

I see some links to some of Bayat's arguments in this article, especially the idea that neoliberal urban spaces are sites for the battle of hegemony.

In the end, I think the way residents chose to use their new park spaces is the same form of resistance that spurred the birth and development of the project in the first place.

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Blurring of the Private-Public dichotomy

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Blurring of the Private-Public dichotomy

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Bayat's article showcased both the limits of privatisation and the potentiality of public spaces. In the logic of the neo-liberal city, social services, that used to be guaranteed by the state, now depend on the influx of private capital. This process of accumulation by dispossession has enhanced social inequality in the urban setting in an unprecedented way. Whilst the aim has been to gentrify the city-landscape as a whole, it has only generated a profound infrastructural division within the city. On the one hand, Bayat mentions the emergence of gated-communities. Within these private spaces, rich people seem to have access to a wide range of services. On the other hand, poor people are reinventing their relation to the public spaces as a result of the drastic effects of dispossession. Hence, the logic of repossession looks at various ways in which the urban poor engage with the public spaces. In some cases, there is a real reappropriation of the public spaces by them.  (694741)

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I was interested in the idea Bayat proposes of "unorganized and unassuming non-movements" and struggled to decide how I felt about their descriptions of this as a means of resistance or subversion. I understand how the city inside out concept creates a perpetual visual presence of those who are displaced by the state, but I am curious as to how these individuals feel about the impact of their presence.

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I also saw one of the core ideas of this reading as the compartmentalization of sustainability and environmental justice as its own area that is separate from political influence, which made me ask how can we begin to reframe these conversations so that they include this element and consider their potential harms as well.

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I agree with your point about universal phenomena of street politics and about disposession and repossession. Although most of the times from the people’s perspective the disparity was embraced as a taken for granted experience, this piece aprroaces the issue deeper from the political economy perspective.

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Political Economy of City Development (694529)

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Political Economy of City Development (694529)

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When I read this piece, I can't help to think that even though the public city plan is designed for the greater good (the public), but to implement it successfully stakeholders involved need to be commissioned in any possible way. There is also a process of manufacturing consent to the citizen in order to normalize this practice.

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I was also fascinated by the concept of "Survival by repossession" in response to "Accumulation by dispossession". However, as Bayat also mentions towards the end of the article, we should definitely pay attention to not excessively romanticize these forms of life and community. Of course, everyday life resistance is powerful, but reducing the elites to scared people who retire in their private heavens, deviates the attention from the fact that often they are still oppressing and dispossessing people in order to prioritize their private interests. Elena (695342)

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I'm currently living in Palermo (Sicily) and, after reading this paper, I started imagining what would happen here if people were displaced with the excuse of making the city "modern and beautiful". Since it is a Roman city, beauty here is usually associated with history and antiquity, so I don't believe that people would agree with the final aim of rendering the place modern. What this tells me is that the concept of "beauty" is by no means objective, which is exactly what allows state authorities to use it as a means for manipulation, like in the case of Thu Thiem! Elena (695342)

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As an ASEAN neighbour to Vietnam, this article is easily relatable as I see cities and historical sites in Malaysia embracing beautification for the sake of development. I too, like the interviewees in this paper, agree with the beautification of the cities as it makes it safer and more well-connected but it is undeniable that the lower-income groups affected by these processes are often “bullied” for the sake of development. It is also  questionable whether the areas affected by the beautification process really have a say in their dispossession or whether they are compensated fairly for it. It is also sad that beautification often erase the history and culture of the sites they “develop”, not many countries take it into consideration seriously and are lax about implementation of policies if it exists. With this, values associated with it are also eroded.

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I think Covid-19 certainly has given the spotlight to informal economies and the often distressing circumstances that led to that. Makes me wonder how as collective individuals, we can break away from the neoliberal logics that drive our markets and society when it is so deeply embedded in the system. I guess one silver lining of the pandemic is that it highlighted local/artisanal traders to help the local economy going and I see that as a step to the right direction. (696247)

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I found this reading really interesting and I can see there are a lot of commons between China and Vietnam. On the one hand, people feel proud of them contributing to the reconstruction of modern Vietnam. On the other hand, they can only count on the numbers cuz these are the only "pension" they got from this "sacrifice". When I talk with elder people back in China, I can feel this strong sentiment of nostalgia. They always talk about how good the past is and how all the cities have become the same nowadays. It seems like we are not only economically and politically influenced or controlled by the government, but also aesthetically driven by their power.

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I also find this concept of "street politics" really helpful. On the one hand, it prevents us from romanticizing the conditions of landless subalterns. The precarious state they are faced with under the logic of control of a modern state. On the other hand, it also shows us that they are not just passively accepting the truth but resisting in a "silent" way. 695184 Tingting Ye