Struggles in the city

About Struggles in the city

The podcast to understand power relations in cities. The podcast welcomes a new guest every time to talk about the struggles at play in cities. A wide range of topics are discussed: race, sport, nationalism, migration, tourism, architecture, surveillance etc.

Publisher

Mélodine

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Jan 2023

Latest episode

7 Nov 2025

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Nov 2025

   Episode 18: Mediated re-imagination of cities

   In this episode, I talk to Linda Kopitz (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) about her work on the mediated construction and re-imagination of cities. This episode explores the interplay of urban and media studies by tapping into a broad range of topics connected to Linda’s rich and multifaceted work. Together we talk about (to name a few!) architectural models, aesthetics, greening strategies, gentrification, playfulness, everyday meaning-making, urban planning. Linda’s recommended resources: · Dunn, N. (2018). Urban imaginaries and the palimpsest of the future. In The Routledge companion to urban imaginaries (pp. 373-386). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/reader/download/6527ac2f-7874-41a6-993f-6634fa759db0/chapter/pdf?context=ubx (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/reader/download/6527ac2f-7874-41a6-993f-6634fa759db0/chapter/pdf?context=ubx) · Pink, S. (2015). Doing Sensory Ethnography (2nd edition). Sage. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/doing-sensory-ethnography/book242776 (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fus.sagepub.com%2Fen-us%2Fnam%2Fdoing-sensory-ethnography%2Fbook242776&data=05%7C02%7Cmechmeso%40jyu.mail.onmicrosoft.com%7C2388694b8b6147fb941f08dd9d028301%7Ce9662d58caa44bc1b138c8b1acab5a11%7C1%7C0%7C638839356619967060%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=f0xJ%2Bnf4vZYRBSLj1dkgoMPxfAag0ZW9%2FZxSSZb7s3Q%3D&reserved=0) · Sicart, M. (2014). Play matters. Mit Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262534512/play-matters/ (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262534512/play-matters/) Linda’s highlighted work: · Kopitz, L. (2025). (Ed.) Playable Cities [special issue], Mediapolis, 10(3), online. https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/ (https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/) · Kopitz, L. (2024). Urban/image: Conceptualizing Amsterdam as urban environment in virtual renderings. European journal of cultural studies, 27(4), 665-680. · Kopitz, L. (2024). Model/City: Architectural Models and the Aesthetics of Playfulness. Amsterdam Museum Journal, 2, 18-39. Link (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.amsterdammuseum.nl%2Fdownloads%2FModel-City_Linda-Kopitz-1753812629.pdf%3F_gl%3D1*15todo1*_gcl_au*ODExNTIwOTYuMTc2MTM4Njg1My4xMzA3MDQyNTQuMTc2MTM4NzAyNS4xNzYxMzg3MDI1*FPAU*ODExNTIwOTYuMTc2MTM4Njg1Mw..&data=05%7C02%7Cmechmeso%40jyu.mail.onmicrosoft.com%7C0353d1dfe5c647fecda208de1c6aadc8%7Ce9662d58caa44bc1b138c8b1acab5a11%7C1%7C0%7C638979442881955046%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2qMzb4AqzTUZiuTCHMLkMAKQHz%2B1U6Ae4Uu%2BAasO6uI%3D&reserved=0) · Kopitz, L. (2024). “AI Will Be the Beating Heart of the City”: Connectivity and/as Care in The Line. Media and Communication, 12, 8181. Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

2. 

   4 Sept 2025

   Episode 17: Media, sport and place

   In this episode, I talk to Helen Morgan Parmett (https://www.uvm.edu/cas/english/profile/helen-morgan-parmett). She works as Associate Professor at The University of Vermont in the United States. Drawing on her long-time work and book “Stadium City (https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088834)” published this Fall 2025, we look into the interplay between media, sport, and place. In the podcast, Helen addresses the mediatization of sport giving concrete examples of how that plays out in the U.S. We also talk about the imagined stadium-goer and how that has changed over the years, as well as the connections that can be drawn to the notion of white space. Helen’s recommended resources: · Bale, J. (1994). Landscapes of modern sport. LeicesterUniversity Press. · Lipsitz, G. (2011). How racism takes place. Temple UniversityPress. · Delaney, K. J., & Eckstein, R. (2007). Public dollars, private stadiums: The battle over building sports stadiums. Rutgers University Press; /z-wcorg/. · Frank, S., & Steets, S. (Eds.). (2010). Stadium worlds: Football, space and the built environment. Routledge. · Jirásek, I., & Kohe, G. Z. (2015). Readjusting Our Sporting Sites/Sight: Sportification and the Theatricality of Social Life. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 9(3), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2015.1065433 (https://doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2015.1065433) ·  Johnson, V. E. (2021). Sports TV. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. · Parks, L., & Starosielski, N. (Eds.). (2015). Signal traffic: Critical studies of media infrastructures. University of Illinois Press. · Rowe, D. (2008). Sport, culture and the media: The unruly trinity (2. ed., repr). Open University Press. · Tuan, Y.-F. (1979). Space and Place: Humanistic Perspective. In S. Gale & G. Olsson (Eds.), Philosophy in Geography. Springer Netherlands. · Wenner, L. A. (2010). MediaSport. Routledge. · Yang, C., & Cole, C. L. (2020). Smart Stadium as a Laboratory of Innovation: Technology, Sport, and Datafied Normalization of the Fans. Communication & Sport, 216747952094357. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479520943579 (https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479520943579) Helen’s highlighted work: · Parmett, H. M. (2025). Stadium City: Sports and Media Infrastructure in the United States. University of Illinois Press. · Morgan Parmett, H. (2019). Down in Treme: Race, Place, and New Orleans on Television. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag(Media Geography at Mainz series). · Morgan Parmett, H. (2022). The Sportification of Place: Governance, Mediatization, and Place-Branding throughthe Stadium. In Brendan Kredell, Erica Stein, and Germaine Halegoua (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Media & the City. Routledge. · Morgan Parmett, H. (2021). “Keep it off the Field”: The Mediatized Sports Stadium as White Space. In Sarah D. Nilsen & Sarah E. Turner (Eds.), White Supremacy and the American Media. Routledge. · Morgan Parmett, H. & Rodgers, S. (2018). Space, Place andCirculation: Three Conceptual Lenses into the Spatialities of Media Production Practices. In Mekonnen Tesfahuney & KarinFast (Eds.), Geomedia. New York: Routledge. Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

3. 

   8 Jul 2025

   Episode 16 - Age-friendly Cities

   In this episode, I talk to Patty Doran who is working at Manchester University and part of the Manchester urban ageing research group. Drawing on her extensive work, within and outside of university, Patty helps us understand what it takes to build age-friendly cities.

4. 

   8 May 2025

   Episode 15: Creative Urban Methods

   In this episode, I talk with Sigrid Merx, Associate Professor in Theatre Studies at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) about creative urban methods. Sigrid is co-organizer of the research group Urban Interfaces at Utrecht University and she has used, written and taught about many different types of creative methods. She shares her insights about the benefits and challenges of using creative methods. Sigrid’s recommended resources: • Corner, J. (1999). The agency of mapping: speculation, critique and invention. In Denis Cosgrove (ed.), Mappings (pp. 213-252). Chicago University Press. • de Certeau, M. (1984). Practices of Everyday Life. University of California Press. • Lefebvre, H. (1991[1974]). The Production of Space. Blackwell. • Massey, D. (2005). For Space. SAGE. • Nibbelink, L. G. (2019). Nomadic Theatre: Mobilizing Theory and Practice on the European Stage. Bloomsbury Publishing. • Pearson, M. & Shanks, M. (2001). Theatre/Archaeology. Routledge. • Van der Tuin, I., & Verhoeff, N. (2022). Critical concepts for the creative humanities. Rowman & Littlefield. Sigrid’s highlighted work: • Merx, S., Kanters, C., de Lange, M., & Verhoeff, N. (eds.) (2023) Creative Urban Methods. Dossier for Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Cultures, 8(4). • De Lange, M., Merx, S., & Verhoeff, N. (2019). Urban interfaces: Between object, concept, and cultural practice. Introduction to Urban Interfaces: Media, Art & Performance in Public Spaces (edited by N. Verhoeff, S. Merx, & M. de Lange) Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 22. Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

5. 

   10 Mar 2025

   Episode 14: ECCAR and anti-Muslim racism

   In this episode, I talk with Linda Hyökki, Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor at ECCAR, the European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (https://www.eccar.info/en). Linda coordinates the ECCAR Working Groups on anti-Muslim racism and antisemitism and talks to us about the range of work and actions that ECCAR and partner cities take to fight against anti-Muslim racism. Linda’s recommended resources: - ECCAR Guidebook on Local Actions Against Anti-Muslim Racism. Policy Recommendations for City Administrations and Their Partners. https://www.eccar.info/en/news/download-new-eccar-guidebook-local-actions-against-anti-muslim-racism (https://www.eccar.info/en/news/download-new-eccar-guidebook-local-actions-against-anti-muslim-racism) - ECCAR 10-Point Action Plan https://www.eccar.info/sites/default/files/document/Updated_Toolkit-en_10PointsActionPlan2023.pdf (https://www.eccar.info/sites/default/files/document/Updated_Toolkit-en_10PointsActionPlan2023.pdf) - ECCAR YouTube with a Step-By-Step Guide for Local Anti-Racism Action Plans: https://www.youtube.com/@ECCAR_Network (https://www.youtube.com/@ECCAR_Network) - ECCAR Toolkit Chapter on Equality Data Collection https://www.eccar.info/sites/default/files/document/ECCAR_Toolkit_interactiv_final.pdf (https://www.eccar.info/sites/default/files/document/ECCAR_Toolkit_interactiv_final.pdf) -  ECCAR Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eccar_network/ (https://www.instagram.com/eccar_network/) -  ECCAR LinkedIn https://de.linkedin.com/company/european-coalition-of-cities-against-racism-eccar (https://de.linkedin.com/company/european-coalition-of-cities-against-racism-eccar) - Bacchi, C., & Goodwin, S. (2016). Poststructural policy analysis: A guide to practice. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-137-52546-8 (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-137-52546-8) Linda’s highlighted work: - Hyökki, L. (2024). “’Men Come and Men Go, But God Is and Remains’: Finnish Female Muslim Converts to Islam and Agency.” In A. Easat-Daas, I. Zempi. (Eds.) ThePalgrave Handbook of Gendered Islamophobia. Palgrave https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52022-8_17 (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52022-8_17) -  Hyökki, L. (2022). Whiteness and Anti-Muslim Racism in Finland: The Racialisation of Finnish Muslim Converts. Context: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 9(1),61–86. https://context.cns.ba/index.php/context/article/view/207 (https://context.cns.ba/index.php/context/article/view/207) -  Hafez, F. & Hyökki, L. (2019). Researching Sisters and Brothers: Implications of In-Group Research to Fieldwork Among Muslims. In K. Limacher, A. Mattes & C. Novak (Eds.), Prayer, Pop and Politics Researching Religious Youth in Migration Society. V&R University Press. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737009799.55 (https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737009799.55) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

6. 

   8 Jan 2025

   Episode 13: Masculinities in cities

   In this episode, I talk to Romit Chowdhury (https://www.eur.nl/en/people/romit-chowdhury), Assistant Professor of Sociology (Erasmus University College, the Netherlands) about masculinities in cities based on his book “City of Men: Masculinities and Everyday Morality on Public Transport (https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/city-of-men/9781978829503/)” published in 2023. Romit’s recommended resources: -  Srivastava, S. (2015). Entangled Urbanism: Slum, Gated Community, and Shopping Mall in Delhi and Gurgaon. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. -  McDowell, L. (2011). Capital culture: Gender at work in the city. John Wiley & Sons. - Siemiatycki, M., Enright, T., & Valverde, M. (2019). The gendered production of infrastructure. Progress in Human Geography. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519828458 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519828458) Romit’s highlighted work: -  Chowdhury, R. (2020). Homosocial trust in urban policing: Masculinities and traffic law enforcement in the gendered city. City, 24(3–4), 493–511. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1781410 (https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1781410) - Chowdhury, R. (2023). City of Men: Masculinities and Everyday Morality on Public Transport. Rutgers University Press. - Chowdhury, R. (2020). Density as urban affect: the enchantment of Tokyo’s crowds. Urban Geography, 41(10), 1277-1283. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2020.1850988 (https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2020.1850988) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

7. 

   8 Nov 2024

   Episode 12: Muslim urban life

   Dr. Amani Hassani, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, shares insights from her comparative ethnographic work on Muslim urban life in Copenhagen and Montreal, revealing the complexities of navigating color-blind societies.

8. 

   8 Sept 2024

   Episode 11: The green city

   In this episode, I talk to Isabelle Anguelovski (https://www.bcnuej.org/isabelle-anguelovski-bio/) (Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability) and James Connolly (https://scarp.ubc.ca/directory/james-connolly) (University of British Columbia), editors of the book The Green City and Social Injustice, 21 tales from North America and Europe that came out in 2022. The book offers in-depth insights into greening efforts in 21 European and North American cities, and serves as the basis for our discussion about environmental justice in cities. James’ and Isabelle’s recommended resources: · Angelo, H. (2021). How green became good: Urbanized nature and the making of cities and citizens. University of Chicago Press. · Agyeman, J. (2013). Introducing just sustainabilities: policy, planning, and practice. Zed Books. · Safransky, S. (2017). Rethinking land struggle in the postindustrial city. Antipode, 49(4), 1079-1100. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12225 (https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12225) · Sun-Hee Park, L., & Pellow, D. (2011). The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden. NYU Press James’ and Isabelle’s highlighted work: · Anguelovski, I., & Connolly, J. J. (2024). Segregating by Greening: What do We Mean by Green Gentrification? Journal of Planning Literature, 39(3), 386-394. https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122241227804 (https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122241227804) · Amorim‐Maia, A. T., Anguelovski, I., Chu, E., & Connolly, J. (2024). Governing intersectional climate justice: Tactics and lessons from barcelona. Environmental Policy and Governance, 34(3), 256-274. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2075 (https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2075) · Quinton, J., Nesbitt, L., Connolly, J. J., & Wyly, E. (2023). How common is greening in gentrifying areas? Urban Geography, 45(6), 1029–1051. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2258687 (https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2258687) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

9. 

   8 Jul 2024

   Episode 10: Gender and race in cities

   In this episode, I talk to Polo Moji (https://humanities.uct.ac.za/department-english/people-academic-staff/dr-polo-moji), Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. We talk about the intersection of gender and race in cities drawing for the greatest part on Polo Moji’s book Gender and the spatiality of Blackness in contemporary Afrofrench narratives. Polo’s recommended resources: · El-Tayeb, F. (2011). European others: Queering ethnicity in postnational Europe. U of Minnesota Press. · Glissant, E. (1990). Poétique de la Relation. Gallimard. · Miano, L. (2020). Afropea: Utopie post-occidentale et post-raciste. Grasset. · Miano, L. (2012). Écrits pour la parole. L’Arche. Polo’s highlighted work: · Moji, P. B. (2023). Oceanic bellies and liquid feminism in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique. Cultural Studies, 37(2), 298–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2022.2104899 (https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2022.2104899) · Moji, P. (2022). Gender and the Spatiality of Blackness in Contemporary AfroFrench Narratives. Routledge. · Mupotsa, D. S., Moji, P. B., & Himmelman, N. (2021). Cinematic imaginaries of the African city. Social Dynamics, 47(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2021.1906145 (https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2021.1906145) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

10. 

    8 May 2024

    Episode 9: Smart urban safety

    In this episode, I talk to Vivien Butot (https://www.inholland.nl/onderzoek/personen/onderzoek-vivien-butot), Associate Lector in Social Media, Security and Justice at Inholland University of Applied Sciences in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). about smart cities and smart urban safety. Drawing on Vivien’s work on these issues, we try and understand what smart cities are about, how they are connected to safety and surveillance, and how people experience them. Vivien’s recommended resources: · Kitchin, R. (2022). Conceptualising smart cities. Urban Research & Practice, 15(1), 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2022.2031143 (https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2022.2031143) · Kitchin, R. (2016). The ethics of smart cities and urban science. Philosophical transactions of the royal society A: Mathematical, physical and engineering sciences, 374(2083), 20160115. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0115 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0115) · Shelton, T., Zook, M., & Wiig, A. (2015). The ‘actually existing smart city’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 8(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsu026 (https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsu026) · Söderström, O., Paasche, T., & Klauser, F. (2020). Smart cities as corporate storytelling. In The Routledge companion to smart cities (pp. 283-300). Routledge. · Van Es, K., & de Lange, M. (2020). Data with its boots on the ground: Datawalking as research method. European Journal of Communication, 35(3), 278-289. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0267323120922087 (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0267323120922087) Vivien’s highlighted work: · Butot, V., Jacobs, G., Bayerl, P. S., Amador, J., & Nabipour, P. (2023). Making smart things strange again: using walking as a method for studying subjective experiences of smart city surveillance. Surveillance & Society, 21(1), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v21i1.15665 (https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v21i1.15665) · Butot, V., & van Zoonen, L. (2022). Contesting infrastructural futures: 5G opposition as a technological drama. Science, Technology, & Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1177/016224392211473 (https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439221147347) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

11. 

    8 Mar 2024

    Episode 8: Urban apartheid in Jerusalem

    In this episode, I talk to Mori Ram, Lecturer in Politics of the Global South at Newcastle University about urban apartheid in Jerusalem. Our discussion draws for the most part on the chapter written by our guest, Mori Ram, and Professor Haim Yacobi and titled “Neo-Apartheid Jerusalem: Palestine/Israel and the Question of Urban Apartheid”. Mori’s recommended resources: • Clarno, A. (2019). Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine/Israel and South Africa after 1994. University of Chicago Press. • Jabareen, Y. (2017). The right to space production and the right to necessity: Insurgent versus legal rights of Palestinians in Jerusalem. Planning Theory, 16(1), 6-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095215591675 • Shtern, M., & Rokem, J. (2023). Towards urban geopolitics of encounter: Spatial mixing in contested jerusalem. Geopolitics, 28(5), 1710-1734. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2021.1926992 • Yacobi, H., & Milner, E. (2022). Planning, Land Ownership, and Settler Colonialism in Israel/Palestine. Journal of Palestine studies, 51(2), 43-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/0377919X.2022.2040321 Mori’s highlighted work: • Ram, M., & Yacobi, H. (2023). Zionism in a white coat: Israel’s geopolitics of medical aid development assistance of health to Africa. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 50(4), 825–844. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2022.2038085 • Yacobi, H., & Ram, M. (2023). Neo-Apartheid Jerusalem. In M. Griffiths & M. Joronen (Eds.), Encountering Palestine: Un/making Spaces of Colonial Violence (pp. 149-175). University of Nebraska Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.8180963 Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

12. 

    8 Jan 2024

    Episode 7: Soundscapes in the city

    In this episode, I talk to Yecid Ortega (https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/yecid-ortega) (Queen’s University Belfast) about his ongoing research project on “Soundscapes of the diver[city] (https://www.soundscapesofthecity.uk/home)”. Yecid talks about the conceptual framework and methodology guiding his work as he examines the connections between space, sound, culture and social justice. Yecid’s project “Soundscapes of the diver[city]”: •Website project: https://www.soundscapesofthecity.uk/ •“Belfast: Sounds of the Night 2023”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ofr-Q2NMA Yecid’s recommended resources: •Lefebvre, H. (2012). From the production of space. In J. Collins & A. Nisbet (Eds.), Theatre and performance design (pp. 81-84). Routledge. •Lefebvre, H. (2013). Rhythmanalysis: Space, time and everyday life. Bloomsbury Publishing. •Pink, S. (2015). Doing sensory ethnography. Sage. •Smith, L. T. (2019). Decolonizing research: Indigenous storywork as methodology. Bloomsbury Publishing. •Wilson, S. (2020). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood publishing. Yecid’s highlighted work: •Ortega, Y. (2023). Symbolic annihilation: processes influencing English language policy and teaching practice. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 1-23. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15427587.2023.2215361 •Ortega, Y. (2023). Charlas y Comidas: Humanising focus groups and interviews. Qualitative Research https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14687941231176947 Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and to Jyri Väisänen for the post-production assistance.

13. 

    9 Nov 2023

    Episode 6: Multilingualism in the city

    In this episode, I talk to Tuomo Hiippala (https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/tuomo-hiippala), Associate Professor in English Language and Digital Humanities at the University of Helsinki (Finland) about languages in cities. We approach that topic through Tuomo’s ongoing research project “Mapping the Linguistic Landscape of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area: From Linguistic Groups to Discourse Communities”. Tuomo’s recommended resources: Peukert, H. (2013). Measuring language diversity in urban ecosystems. In J. Duarte, & I. Goglin (Eds.), Linguistic Superdiversity in urban areas: Research approaches (pp. 75–96). Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/hsld.2.06peu (https://doi.org/10.1075/hsld.2.06peu) Kellerman, A. (2010). Mobile broadband services and the availability of instant access to cyberspace, Environment and Planning 42, 2990–3005. https://doi.org/10.1068/a4328 (https://doi.org/10.1068/a4328) Kellerman, A. (2016). Daily Spatial Mobilities: Physical and Virtual. Routledge. Tuomo’s highlighted work: Pienimäki, H. M., Väisänen, T., & Hiippala, T. (2023). Making sense of linguistic diversity in Helsinki, Finland: The timespace of affects in the linguistic landscape. Journal of Sociolinguistics. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12633 Hiippala, T., Väisänen, T., & Pienimäki, H. M. (2023). A multimodal approach to physical and virtual linguistic landscapes across different spatial scales. In Sociolinguistic Variation in Urban Linguistic Landscapes. Finnish Literature Society. Väisänen, T., Järv, O., Toivonen, T., & Hiippala, T. (2023). Capturing urban diversity through languages: Long‐term changes in multilingual residential neighbourhoods in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Population, Space and Place, 17. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2717 (https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2717) Väisänen, T., Järv, O., Toivonen, T., & Hiippala, T. (2022). Mapping urban linguistic diversity with social media and population register data. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 97, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101857 Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

14. 

    9 Sept 2023

    Episode 5: Queer spaces in the city

    In this episode, I talk to Derek Ruez (https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/derek-ruez), Academy Research Fellow at the University of Tampere (Finland). Derek’s current research project examines the politics of migration in Nordic queer spaces with a focus on two cities, Helsinki and Copenhagen. In this podcast’s episode we talk about queer spaces in cities, discussing what it means that space has historically been produced as heterosexual and heteronormative, and how people with different practices have had to carve out their own spaces. Derek’s recommended resources: Ali, A. (2022). Warming up narratives of community: queer kinship and emotional exile. Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics, 8(4), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v8i4.1014 (https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v8i4.1014) Boussalem, A. (2022). A place where there is no need to explain: LGBTQ Muslims, collective disidentification and queer space in Brussels, Belgium. Social & Cultural Geography, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2022.2083667 (https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2022.2083667) Brown, G., & Browne, K. (eds.). (2016). The Routledge Research Companion to Geographies of Sex and Sexualities. Routledge. Oswin, N. (2008). Critical geographies and the uses of sexuality: Deconstructing queer space. Progress in Human Geography, 32(1), 89-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132507085213 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132507085213) Oswin, N. (2019). Global city futures: Desire and development in Singapore. University of Georgia Press. Rosenberg, R. D. (2023). Geographies of Hegemonic Gay Masculinity: Interplays of Trans and Racialized In/Exclusions in the Gay Village of Toronto. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2211141 (https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2211141) Special issue on Placing LGBTQ+ urban activisms (edited by Alison Bain and Julie Podmore), published in Urban Studies https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/usj/58/7 (https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/usj/58/7) Derek’s highlighted work: Ruez, D., & Cockayne, D. (2021). Feeling otherwise: Ambivalent affects and the politics of critique in geography. Dialogues in Human Geography, 11(1), 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820621995617 (https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820621995617) Ruez, D. (2017). “I never felt targeted as an Asian… until I went to a gay pub”: Sexual racism and the aesthetic geographies of the bad encounter. Environment and Planning, 49(4), 893-910. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X16680817 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X16680817) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

15. 

    9 Jul 2023

    Episode 4: Urban sustainability

    In this episode, I talk to ⁠Shirley Nieuwland⁠ (https://www.paradisefound.nl/about/), independent researcher and consultant, about urban tourism and sustainability. Shirley has written her dissertation on those topics by researching sustainable tourism development in cities in the Netherlands and in Spain. In this episode, we unpack some buzzwords, from ‘overtourism’ to ‘degrowth’ and ‘gentrification’, and talk about how tourism can be part of the solution more than the problem. Shirley’s recommended resources: - Rotmans, J. (2021). Omarm de chaos. De Geus. - Milano, C., Novelli, M., & Cheer, J. M. (2019). Overtourism and degrowth: A social movements perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(12), 1857-1875. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1650054⁠ (https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1650054) - Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. Chelsea Green Publishing. - “Bye Bye Barcelona”, documentary available on Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdXcFChRpmI⁠ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdXcFChRpmI) Shirley’s highlighted work: - Nieuwland, S., Versloot, E., & van der Zee, E. (2022). The Rotterdam way: a new take on urban tourism management. In J. van der Borg (Ed.), A Research Agenda for Urban Tourism (pp. 127-142). Edward Elgar Publishing. ⁠https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789907407.00014⁠ (https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789907407.00014) - Nieuwland, S., & Lavanga, M. (2020). The consequences of being ‘the Capital of Cool’. Creative entrepreneurs and the sustainable development of creative tourism in the urban context of Rotterdam. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(6), 926-943. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1841780⁠ (https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1841780) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

16. 

    9 May 2023

    Episode 3: Religion in the city

    In this episode, I talk to Julia Martínez-Ariño, Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) about religion in cities. Julia’s research focuses on religion and secularism, and the way they materialize in everyday urban settings. In her book, “Urban Secularism: Negotiating Religious Diversity in Europe”, Julia discusses the messy and multilayered daily deployment of secularism in French cities. Julia’s recommended readings: Beaman, L. G. (2013). Battles over Symbols: The Religion of the Minority versus the Culture of the Majority. Journal of Law and Religion, 28, 67–104. Amiraux, V. (2016). Visibility, transparency and gossip: How did the religion of some (Muslims) become the public concern of others? Critical Research on Religion, 4(1), 37–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303216640399 Koenig, M. (2007). Europeanising the governance of religious diversity: An institutionalist account of Muslim struggles for public recognition. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(6), 911–932. Griera, M. (2016). The governance of religious diversity in stateless nations: The case of Catalonia. Religion, State & Society, 1–19. Schiller, M. (2015). Paradigmatic pragmatism and the politics of diversity. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(7), 1120–1136. Julia’s highlighted work: Griera, M., Müller, T., & Martínez-Ariño, J. (2022). The Politics of Mapping Religion: Locating, Counting, and Categorizing Places of Worship in European Cities. Space and Culture, 26(2), 167-179. https://doi.org/10.1177/120633122311611 Martínez-Ariño, J. (2021). “It’s the First Sukkah since the Inquisition!”: Jewish Celebrations in Public Spaces in Barcelona. In Bramadat, P., Griera, M., Burchardt, M., & Martinez-Ariño, J. (Eds.). Urban religious events: Public spirituality in contested spaces. Bloomsbury Publishing, 95-110. Martínez-Ariño, J. (2020). Urban secularism: Negotiating religious diversity in Europe. Routledge. Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

17. 

    9 Mar 2023

    Episode 2: Nation in the city

    In this episode, I talk to Delia Dumitrica (https://www.eur.nl/en/people/delia-dumitrica) (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) about the way the nation is represented, or flagged, in cities, and how that is often done in ways that are mundane or taken for granted. Delia’s research focuses on protest communication, digital activism and the discursive construction of the political functions of new media. In addition to this, she has worked on everyday and banal forms of nationalism. You can read Delia’s work on the visual representations of nations in cities here (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nana.12520). Delia’s recommended readings: Billig, M. (1995). Banal Nationalism. Sage. Skey, M. (2011). National belonging and everyday life: The significance of nationhood in an uncertain world. Springer. Delia’s work on the visual representations of nations in cities: Dumitrica, D. (2019). The ideological work of the daily visual representations of nations. Nations and Nationalism, 25(3), 910-934. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nana.12520 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nana.12520) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

18. 

    9 Jan 2023

    Episode 1: Why cities?

    In this episode, I talk with Isabel Awad (https://www.eur.nl/people/isabel-awad-cherit) (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) about what makes cities such an interesting venue to examine and what they can help us understand. Isabel is part of the Vital Cities and Citizens (https://www.eur.nl/en/research/erasmus-initiatives/vital-cities-and-citizens) network at Erasmus University Rotterdam for which she is project leader of the research team on Inclusive Cities and Diversity. Isabel has been involved in the research programme “(Re)mapping Rotterdam (https://www.eur.nl/en/research/research-programme/vcc-projects-page/remapping-rotterdam)”. In this video (https://www.eur.nl/en/research/learning-equality/collection/remapping-rotterdam), Isabel and her colleague Zouhair Hammana talk with Adel AlBaghdadi, founder of WE Organization, about the mapping exercise used in the course “Communicating (in)equality in the city” at EUR. You can read some of Isabel’s work here (https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911408221) and here (https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12124). Isabel’s recommended readings: Young, Iris Marion. (2000). Inclusion and democracy. Oxford University press. Young, Iris Marion. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton University Press. Cerwonka, A., & Malkki, L. H. (2008). Improvising theory. In Improvising Theory. University of Chicago Press. Isabel’s work: Awad, I. (2011). Latinas/os and the mainstream press: The exclusions of professional diversity. Journalism, 12, 515-532. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911408221 (https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911408221) Awad, I. (2014). Journalism, poverty, and the marketing of misery: News from Chile's “largest ghetto.” Journal of Communication, 64, 1066-87. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12124 (https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12124) Thank you to Elmeri Tommiska for the music and post-production assistance.

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