IN-PERSON London. Section B

Abstract

Can “livable cities” exist in anti-democratic, repressive states? Since 2010 we have witnessed mass direct action in the public square to protect democracy (e.g. the umbrella movement in Hong Kong, “Maidan” protests in Kyiv, cabildos assemblies in Santiago, Movimento Passe Livre in São Paulo) and efforts to overthrow dictatorship (e.g. the Arab Spring in Tunis, Damascus, and Cairo, the anti-Tatmadaw resistance in Yangon, the democracy movement in Moscow 2011-13 and 2019). Tragically, with the exception of the Chilean democracy movement, all of these nonviolent urban revolts were crushed by various forms of state power, violence and repression. The first part of this paper will analyze how the urbanization of anti-authoritarian revolt and backlash in recent decades has radically transformed life experience in cities throughout Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The second part of the paper will analyze the mobilization, repression, and aftermath of mass movement urban uprisings in two case studies: (Central Hong Kong, 2014 and 2019-20, and Tahrir Square, Cairo, 2011-2013); stunning success in both cases led to devastating backlash, leaving citizens in far worse conditions than before each uprising had been launched. How, if at all, can urban citizens pursue strategies of subversion and resistance that can make cities “livable” under conditions of overwhelming state repression? In conclusion, I discuss how the courageous women activists of the Zan, Zendegī, Āzādī (Women, Life, Freedom) movement in Tehran since 2022, and the anti-femicide protests in Mexico City since 2020, offer models for “fugitive democracy” (Wolin, 1994, 2016), authentic human agency, community and the future realization of women’s rights and freedom.