What would a feminist perspective on planetary urbanization theory look like, or is it inherently a masculinist discourse?

Abstract

In a world where an increasing majority of the population lives in urban areas, it is imperative that the field of urban studies seriously considers its role in understanding and representing women’s daily struggles, possibilities and desires. However, as we are aware, there is a consistency with which even critical urban theorists can dismiss women, endorsing a single standpoint and producing disembodied theory. Here I turn to Brenner and Schmid’s controversial planetary urbanisation concept, which in recent years has gained a lot of momentum and opened up new theoretical and political questions that position themselves at the forefront of the urban debate. Feminist critiques have emerged in response, with a common thread arguing that the theory does not account for “difference”, denies marginal narratives both in its production and application by claiming totalising notions, and has largely not dealt with the real questions that feminist urban studies should pose. In this article, Claudia Dorman-Alonso engages with a broad spectrum of feminist critiques as well as defences to understand whether the planetary urbanisation thesis is in fact inherently incompatible with feminist concerns.