Urban Revolutions Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context

323 Pages·2022·1.349 MB·English

by  Stefan Kipfer

UrbanRevolutions
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
LorenBalhorn(Berlin)
DavidBroder(Rome)
SebastianBudgen(Paris)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume 262
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction:Marxism,Anti-ColonialismandUrbanResearch 1
1 BeyondMetaphor:HenriLefebvreand‘Colonisation’ 26
2 TimesandSpacesofLiberation:FrantzFanonon(De)Colonisation 66
3 CreolisingtheUrbanRevolution?TexacoandLiteraryImaginariesin
Martinique 112
4 IsthisPipelineUrban?IndigenousResurgenceandExtended
UrbanisationinCanada 157
5 MixingItUp:DemolitionandCounter-RevolutioninGreaterParis 200
Conclusion 240
Bibliography 247
Index 307

Acknowledgements
The texts assembled in this book were written and researched mostly inTo-
rontoandParis,roughlybetween2002and2019.Theydrawonselectthemes
frommyPhDdissertationandbenefitedgreatlyfromsubsequentinsightsgath-
ered and discussions I had in other places, during workshops, conferences,
publicevents,travelsandsitevisitsandinformalmeetings.Amongthese:Mar-
tinique,Tunis,Algiers,Marseille,Bordeaux,Caen,Zurich,Geneva,Lausanne,
Vaumarcus, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Batoche,
NorthBattleford,ThePas,Timiskaming,IroquoisFalls,Rouyin-Noranda,Qué-
becCity,Gaspé,London,Liverpool,Denver,Seattle,CasaGrande,LosAngeles,
Chicago,NewYorkCity,WashingtonD.C.,HongKong,Ramallah,andIstanbul.
Inevitably,then,thetextsareproductsof translation,inthespecificsenseof
workingacrossdifferentlanguages(English,French,Germaninmycase)and
inthemoregeneralsenseoftransporting(andthusrecastingandmodifying)
themeaningoftexts,situationsandexperiencesfromonehistoricalandgeo-
graphicalcontexttoanother.
Thepeopleandorganizationsthathadadirectorindirectroleinmakingthe
productionandpublicationof thisbookpossiblearetoonumeroustorecall.
Amongthem,IwouldliketohighlightKarenWirsig,mylifepartnerwithwhom
I have been privileged to share many of the political experiences and intel-
lectualexchangesthatwerecrucialforthecreationofthesetexts;myparents
StefiandErnstKipfer,whoalwaysinsistedthatIquestioncommonsense;and
ChantalKipferandFelixWirsig,mydaughterandsonwhochallengemythink-
ingandsensibilitiescontinuously.Iwouldalsoliketoexpressmydeepthanks
tomyimmediateco-producers,Kanishka Goonewardena(who gavemeper-
missiontoadaptandre-usethetextforChapter1andwithwhomIdiscussed
manythemesinthisbooksincetheearly2000s)aswellasMustafaDikeç,Mike
Ekers, Gillian Hart, Alex Loftus, Parastou Saberi, and Christian Schmid (who
haveshapedmyoutlookinvariouswaysasweworkedondifferentbutinevit-
ablyrelatedprojectsandmaterialssincethelate2000s).
This book would not have seen the light of day without the initiative of
SebastianBudgenandtheeditorsoftheHistoricalMaterialismBookSeriesand
BrillPublishers.InParis,Ibenefitedfromtheinestimablesupportofthecom-
radesatPériodeandContretemps,andthePartidesIndigènesdelaRépublique
(notably Stella Magliani-Belkacem, Félix Boggio Ewanjé-Epée, Sadri Khiari,
Selim Nadi) and Eterotopia France (Cosimo Lisi, Duccio Scotini, Tiziana Vil-
lani)aswellasuniversitycolleaguesinGeographyatParis-EstMarne-la-Vallée
(AnneClerval,ClaireHancock),PoliticalScienceatParisviii(SylvieTissot),
viii acknowledgements
and the Centre des études européennes at Sciences Po (Patrick Le Galès). In
Toronto,elementsofmyworkhavebeensupportedinstitutionallyandintellec-
tuallybyfriends,comradesandcolleaguesatYorkUniversity(Environmental
Studies, Political Science, Geography), the University of Toronto (Geography
andPlanning),HistoricalMaterialismToronto,theGreaterWorkers’Assembly
andtheSocialistProject.
In these and other places, I would like to thank the following people for
answers,comments,questions,andcritiquesoverthelast15years:GregAlbo,
HimaniBannerji,HouriaBouteldja,NeilBrenner,SebastianBudgen,Christine
Chivallon, Raphaël Confiant, Glen Coulthard, Chayma Drira, David Feather-
stone,HonorFord-Smith,KyleGibson,LietteGilbert,DerekGregory,Shubhra
Gururani,OdedHaas,LaamHae,JinHaritaworn,FloraHergon,DavidHugill,
PabloIdahosa,IlanKapoor,AliaKarim,KenKawashima,RogerKeil,UteLehrer,
DavidMcNally,LouisJosephMaugée,RadhikaMongia,KarenMurray,Ayyaz
Mallick, Ugo Palheta, Linda Peake, Justin Podur, Mohamed Ragoubi, Norma
Rantisi, Matthieu Renault, Sue Ruddick, Ted Rutland, Cate Sandilands, Ato
Sekyi-Otu,NicolaShort,RachelVernisse,AudraSimpson,ŁukaszStanek,Wing-
ShingTang,KasimTirmizey,DaleTomichandAnnaZalik.
IgratefullyacknowledgethepublishersofEterotopiaforgivingmepermis-
siontouse,insignificantlyextendedandreworkedways,Letempsetl’espacede
la(dé)colonisation:DialogueentreFrantzFanonandHenriLefebvre(Paris,2019)
forChapters1to5ofthisvolume.Thesechaptersalsoborrowpassages,insights
and arguments from the following English-language publications. Chapter 1
is a modified and expanded version of Stefan Kipfer and Kanishka Goone-
wardena,‘UrbanMarxismandthePost-colonialQuestion:HenriLefebvreand
“Colonisation”’, Historical Materialism, 21, no. 2 (2013): 76–117. Chapter 2 is a
revised,muchexpandedandupdatedversionof atextthatwaspublishedin
abridged form as Stefan Kipfer, ‘TheTimes and Spaces of (De-)Colonisation:
Fanon’sCounter-Colonialism,ThenandNow’in LivingFanon,ed.NigelGib-
son(NewYork:Palgrave,2011),pp.93–104.Chapter3containsfragmentsand
preliminaryargumentsfromStefanKipfer,‘WorldwideUrbanisationandNeo-
colonial Fractures’, in Implosions/Explosions, ed. Neil Brenner, (Berlin: Jovis,
2014),pp.288–305.Chapter4isamodified,muchexpandedandupdatedver-
sionof anoriginalsubmissionultimatelypublishedas‘PushingtheLimitsof
UrbanResearch:Urbanisation,PipelinesandCounter-ColonialPolitics’,Envir-
onmentandPlanningD:SocietyandSpace,36,no.3(2018):474–93.Chapter5
is an updated, expanded and modified version of Stefan Kipfer, ‘Démolition
etcontre-révolution:larénovationurbainedanslarégionparisienne’,Période,
revueperiode.net(5October2015),whichitselfisalonger,unabridgedversion
ofthearticlesubmittedto Antipodeandpublishedthereunderthetitle‘Neo-
acknowledgements ix
ColonialUrbanism?LaRénovationurbaineinParis’,Antipode,48,no.3(2016):
603–25.Finally,theconclusionborrowsafewinsightsandfactsfromalonger
interviewwithCosimoLisiandDuccioScotiniaboutthecovid-19pandemic
publishedas‘Espaceurbainetdistanciationsociale’inacta.zone(4June2020).