Syllabus
** - required reading
* - optional reading 1. Introductory Class (18 02 2020)
Goals, requirements, brief introduction to urban geography, urban restructuring, critical urban theory, urban grassroots movements, climate crisis and movement. 2. Urban change under neoliberal restructuring (25 02 2020)
** Jacobson, M. 2009. Neoliberal Urban Restructuring, in: M. Jacobson, Producing and Contesting the Neoliberal Citizen: EN DOCUMENTOS http://psicologiasocial.uab.es/fic/en/book/2009/07/20-2
* Harvey, D. 1989. From Managerialism to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Urban Governance in Late Capitalism. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 71 (1), 3-17.
* Brenner, N., Theodore, N. 2002. Cities and the Geographies of “Actually Existing Neoliberalism.” Antipode, 34 (3), 349–379.
* Smith, N. 2002. New Globalism, New Urbanism: Gentrification as Global Urban Strategy. Antipode, 34 (3), 427–450. 3. Urban grassroots movements (03 03 2020)
** Pickvance, C. 2003. From urban social movements to urban movements: a review and introduction to a symposium on urban movements. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27 (1), 102–109.
** Harvey, D. 2008. The Right to the City. “New Left Review,” 23-40. Available online: https://newleftreview.org/II/53/david-harvey-the-right-to-the-city
* Castells, M. 1983. The city and the grassroots: a cross-cultural theory of urban social movement, London: Edward Arnold. 4. Introduction to post-socialist urban transformation (10 03 2019)
** Sýkora, L. 2009. Post-socialist cities in International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography edited by R. Kitchin and N. Thrift, Vol. 8, Oxford: Elsevier, 387-395. 5. Urban grassroots movements in Czech cities (17 03 2020)
** Jacobsson, K. 2015. Introduction: The Development of Urban Movements in Central and Eastern Europe, in Urban grassroots movements in Central and Eastern Europe edited by K. Jacobsson. Farnham: Ashgate, 1-32.
* Jacobsson, K. 2015. Conclusion: Towards a New Research Agenda, in Urban grassroots movements in Central and Eastern Europe edited by K. Jacobsson. Farnham: Ashgate, 273-287.
* Pixová, M. 2020. Contested Czech Cities: From Urban Grassroots to Pro-democratic Populism. Springer, Singapore. 6. Excursion: Contested Urban Issues in Post-Socialist Prague (24 03 2020)
Urban tour with a guest. 7. Tourism and Housing Crisis in Prague: Impacts and Resistance (31 03 2020)
** Pixová, M., Sládek, J. 2016. Touristification and awakening civil society in post-socialist Prague, in: Colomb, C., Novy, J. (Eds.). Protest and Resistance in the City. Routledge, London, 73-89.
** Pixová, M., Novák, A. 2016. [Squatting in] Prague post-1989. Boom, decline, and renaissance,” Baltic Worlds, 2, 34 – 45. 8. Excursion: Professional NGOs concerned with advocacy and lobbying in the area of urban policies, planning and development (07 04 2020)
Excursion to one (or two) of the following organizations: 1) Arnika / Klub Za starou Prahu / Auto*mat / Nadace Via / Frank Bold / Zelený kruh / reSITE / Čtyři dny v pohybu / Containall or others.
* Císař, O., Vráblíková 2012. Transnational activism of social movement organizations: The effect of European Union funding on local groups in the Czech Republic. European Union Politics, 14 (1), 140–160. 9. Guest lecture (14 04 2020)
In discussion lecture by Prof. Mark Gottdiener on right to the city and urban social movements in the USA. 10. Excursion: Activists in politics: From the backyard to the local city hall (21 04 2020)
Excursion to the city hall in the Prague 7 district, which is run by an “activist government.” Presentation by local politicians and guided tour around local urban controversies (Palác Stromovka).
** Pixová, M. 2018. The Empowering Potential of Reformist Urban Activism in Czech Cities. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 29, (4), 670 – 682.
* Domaradzka, A. (2017). Leveling the Playfield: Urban Movement in the Strategic Action Field of Urban Policy in Poland. in: J. Hou, S. Knierbein (Eds.), City Unsilenced: Urban Resistance and Public Space in the Age of Shrinking Democracy. Routledge. 11. Climate movements and the city, excursion to the Extinction Rebellion office (28 04 2020)
** Booth, E. 2019. Extinction Rebellion: social work, climate change and solidarity. Critical and Radical Social Work. 7 (2), 257–261.
** Watts, M. 2017. Cities spearhead climate action. Nature Climate Change. 7, 537–538. 12. Presentation of students’ activist project reports (05 05 2020) 13. Course Wrap-Up (12 05 2020)
Presentation and evaluation of the students’ final papers, concluding discussion of the course topics and students’ questions and feedback.
Annotation
The class Urban Change and Grassroots Movements in the Czech Republic introduces students to the processes of urban change in cities undergoing neoliberal restructuring and post-socialist transformation, and to the grassroots movements that emerge and operate in the cities as a response to these changes. It focuses on urban change and grassroots movements from the perspective of global processes, as well as on their specific local form in the Czech Republic, where they continue to be influenced by the country’s past in socialism.
Students will learn about different forms of activism, ranging from professional non-governmental organizations and neighbourhood initiatives, to various radical forms, and most recently also those emerging from the climate movement. Typical concerns, actors involved, and strategies used by urban social movements will also be explored. The course will consist of both seminars and Prague-based excursions to selected localities and organizations. Students will be provided with the relevant literature and be able to engage in discussions. Students interested in obtaining ECTS credits will produce their own final reports, and in small groups realise their own activist projects.