Africa’s Urban ‘Futures’: An Improvised Politics of Public Spaces

At the 11th European Workshops in International Studies, held in Istanbul from July 3-5, 2024, Prof. Perazzone presented as part of the panel "Improvising the Future: Politics, Speculation, and Pragmatism."

Her presentation, titled "Africa’s Urban ‘Futures’: An Improvised Politics of Public Spaces," addressed the global concern of the shrinking and privatization of urban public space, with a focus on African cities. Contrary to stereotypes that depict urban Africa as ill-governed and dominated by violence and private interests, Prof. Perazzone argued that cities like Abidjan and Kinshasa reveal critical yet understudied political dynamics that challenge these narratives.

She proposed that these cities are not chaotic or unregulated but rather host a variety of actors who engage in complex and sometimes contradictory practices that blur the lines between public and private space. Her analysis highlighted how these urban spaces question Western-centric notions of governance, usage, and the material configuration of urban environments. Prof. Perazzone explored the tension between state governance, the improvised uses of space by local residents, and the physical contours of the urban environment in these cities. Her presentation aimed to contribute to social scientific debates by re-examining dominant narratives about the public-private dichotomy and the future politics of urban spaces in the global South.