Spatial dynamics of financialisation - Einzelansicht

Objectives and Contents

Financialisation has turned out to be a major driver of urban and regional development. Moreover it incites social disparities beyond the traditional mechanisms of individual and collective access to work and resources, as prevalent in capitalism. This seminar gives an introduction to basic definitions and theoretical approaches, and provides a critical understanding of the workings and outcomes of financialisation within various socio-spatial settings. Taking urban housing and planning, land grabbing and the management of natural resources as important arenas of struggles over financialisation, participants are encouraged to carve out the specific shifts in logic which presently contribute to a fundamental restructuring of cities and regions. A final section of the course will deal with the (often supporting) management of financialisation and with political and civic resistance against its effects, such as expropriation, destruction of commons and public spaces, social exclusion, communicative extortion of local policy-makers, devaluation of national policies and tightening of networks of powerful transnational stakeholders.

Participants are expected to engage in guided discussions of seminal texts, prepare presentations and deliver contributions to a special blog which will be introduced parallel to the seminar. More details and materials will be provided through a special Moodle section.