Cities, Capitalism and the Politics of Sensibilities

This book explores the connections between the processes of social structuring and sensibilities in contemporary cities. The transformations of capitalism on a global scale imply reconfigurations both in the way of planning and organizing cities, and in the ways of dwelling and feeling them. The generalization of the urban, the suburbanization of the metropolis, and classified and racializing segregation, just to mention some significant phenomena, not only introduce changes linked to the forms of consumption of the city and the land, the appropriation and privatization of collective places, the strategic revaluation of urban times / spaces, or the establishment of new centralities. They also involve changes in sensibilities, which translate into substantial transformations in the lives of people and groups that dwell in cities in the Global North and South. Based on various empirical records and methodological procedures, the chapters included in this book establish a fertile dialogue between collaborators from different geocultural contexts that locate urban experiences and sensibilities as a point of articulation to address the processes of social structuring on a global scale. Foreword: The Expanded and Dramatized Emotions in the Context of Global Cities Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors List of Tables Part I Theoretical Approaches to Urban Sensibilities and Capitalism 1 City and Emotions Introduction Politics of the Senses and the City Shopping as a Cathedral Display Case and Stained Glass Place of Socialization The Market and the Temple City 4.0 and Sensibilities Starting Again: The City as a Utopian Space References 2 The Ephemeral and The Metropolis: A Study on a Philosophical Idea from Romantic Aesthetic to Media Theory Introduction Fashion and Habits Media and Images Objects and Pleasure Time as Discontinuity References 3 Plasticity of Bodies/Emotions in the City: Socialization Places, Embodying Social Relations Introduction Classified Sense of the City Social Relations, Subject-Object of the Bodies/Emotions in the City Embodied Social Relations vs. Socialization of Class Contradictions in Contemporary Cities What Does the Plasticity of Bodies/Emotions that Make and are Made in the City Anticipate? “What We Do, Makes Us”. Plasticity of the Social Bodies/Emotions that Make the City Conclusions References 4 Emotive Culture and Belonging: Sensibilities, Fears and Moralities in an Urban Context Introducing the Neighbourhood It’s Good to Live in Varadouro Belonging and Feeling of Discrimination Common Fears About Ageing Violence Comes from Outside to Inside Conclusion References 5 Urban Foodscapes and Media Horizons: A New Gastronomic Experience Introduction Metropolis and the Boundless Pleasure of Food The Convergence Culture and the “Transgastronomy” New Aesthetics of Food: The Centrality of the Procedure Transparent Kitchens and Multi-level Chefs Conclusion References 6 Perry—Deep Mapping and Emotion in Place-Writing Practice The Phases of Place Inquiry The Literary Text, Time and Emotion Small Stories as a Research Instrument A Practice-Led Methodology for Place Inquiry Places to Visit, Making the Holiday Ghost Memories of Home Theory of the Planning Hexis and the 6-Part Diathesis Barthes and the Centre of the Written City Places of Drama from the Lived Biography Perry and the Pear in Normandy Conclusion References Part II Cities Today: Situated Analyzes and Sensibilities 7 (In)Sensibilities to the Vigilance of Others in the City Introduction Politics of Sensibilities and Surveillance Surveillance in Contemporary Cities Sensibility to the Vigilance of Others Insensibility to the Vigilance of Others Conclusions References 8 “We Were Never Informal Ones”: Aymara Qamiris and Independent Work in the Cities of Peruvian-Bolivian High Andean Plateau Introduction The Paths of Labour: A Critical Review Qamiris and Aymara Trade in the Peruvian-Bolivian High Andean Plateau From Migration to Commercial Success in Urban Spaces Aymara Ethics in Independent Work The Strategies of the Aymara Popular Economy in Urban Spaces Social Strategies Cultural Strategies Symbolic Strategies Everyday Life and Culture in the Independent Aymara Trade Conclusions References 9 Exploring the Politics of Sensibilities That Promote Marriage and Reproduction Among Young Chinese Adults Residing in Urban Areas A Brief Introduction to China’s Rapid Urbanization After 1978 Two Demographic Transitions Facing Urban China: The Aging Population and Decreasing Fertility Ageing Population Declining Fertility Marriage and Reproduction: An Individual Concern or a Family Affair? Confucianism and Xiao Individualism Amongst Young Chinese Cohorts Living in Urban Areas Politics of Sensibilities to Promote Marriage and Reproduction in Urban Spaces Dating TV Shows Matchmaking Corners in Parks Traditional Education on “Feminine Virtue” The Role of Materialism and Consumerism in Promoting Marriage and Reproduction Counteracting Forces Against Those Politics of Sensibilities Conclusion References 10 City and Sensibilities: The Dynamics of Racializing Segregation Introduction Racialization Practices and Politics of Sensibilities Racialization and Urban Space Towards a Definition of Racializing Segregation Conclusions References 11 Gated Communities and Dormitory Towns: Between (Dis)Trust and (In)Security Cities, Sensibilities, and Emotions of Inhabit Guatemala: Public Policies of Security and Their Link to Trust as a Socializing Force Perception of (in)Security Trust as a Socializing Force Sensibilities, Experiences and Emotions Around the City and the Access to Housing Complexes: “Hacienda Vista Hermosa” Condominium A Way of Closure References 12 Urban Spaces of Fear and Disillusionment Anxiety and Disillusionment in Llano Verde Living with the Executioner and Segregation by Algorithm Twenty-First Century Spaces of Urban Coloniality Death and the City Conclusion References 13 Cities, COVID-19 and Sensibilities: A Kaleidoscope of Experiences In the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emerging Mutual Aid Practices Inspired by Values of Protection and Care for Life “New Normal” Emerging Mutual Aid Practices That Are Life-Inspired Values Taking Care of Life Is Essential for the Pandemic City Cities in Silence. A Global Response to Fear of the Other The Pandemic City: Between Lack and Possibility The City as Lack and Absence Hunger Roof Education Distraction/Enjoyment The City as a Possibility The Indispensable The Proximity Conclusions References Index This volume zooms in on the transformation of the city/metropolis from the standpoints of work/political economy, sustainability, security/surveillance and race., focusing on how the city is experience/sensed across different communities of people. Springing from diverse traditions of thought and methodological perspectives, including politics, ethnography, philosophy, and urban planning, the chapters offer the opportunity to capture the city as a puzzle of perceptions and experiences. In this same direction the multiplicity of spaces/times - the Mexico Federal District, Port-of-Spain, Shanghai, Milan, Paris, Buenos Aires and Puno - are the reference points of the chapters to indicate how their sociability, experientialities and sensibilities are organized. The book, at the same time, constitutes an opportunity to analyze the possibilities of including trust, reciprocity and equality as axes for looking at the "life-of-the-cities" as a central component of a new form of politics of sensibilities. Adrian Scribano is Director of the Centre for Sociological Research and Studies at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina. Margarita Camarena Luhrs is Research at the Institute for Social Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico. Ana Lucia Cervio is Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina ISBN 9783030580346 Mansfield, C. Shepherd, D. and Wassler, P. (2021). 'Perry Deep mapping and emotion in place-writing practice' in eds: Adrin Scribano, Margarita Camarena Luhrs and Ana Luca Cervio Cities, Capitalism and the Politics of Sensibilities. London: Palgrave Macmillan. eBook ISBN 978-3-030-58035-3 Hardcover ISBN 9783030580346 270 pages. Chapter 6, pp. 97 114.