Abstract: Is the city inherently violent? This simple question encapsulates much of the classical endeavour of urban sociology: finding general theories about the quintessential nature of the urban, with violence being the paradigmatic field for such an exploration. The problem with understanding violence in the city, however, is twofold: it is the positivist attempt at finding a “theory of the urban”; and it is the empiricist nature of engagements with “the city”. If we follow the intuition of the likes of Idelfons Cerdá (who coined the term urbanización), Henri Lefebvre, Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid or Ross Exo Adams, the point is less understanding how the city produces violence; and more linking a different theory of the urban to the problematic field of violence – a theory, I suggest, that needs to articulate the political economic and the atmospheric to be analytical and strategically relevant.
Biography speaker: Simone Tulumello is associate research professor in human geography at the University of Lisbon, Institute of Social Sciences, and president of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy (2025-2027). At the crossroads of human geography, critical urban studies and political economy, Simone is interested in the multi-scalar dimensions of urbanization, with focus on urban security and violence, housing policy and politics, urban imaginaries, and urbanization in the semi-periphery. His latest books are Urban Violence: Security, Imaginary, Atmosphere (with Andrea Pavoni; 2023, Lexington) and Habitação além da “crise”: políticas, conflito, direito (2024; Tigre de Papel).
Practical information: The seminar will take place on 3 December from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the large meeting room RC (C4.09, Building C, 4th floor).