Сity as a polis: agonistic practices in the urban environment
Research Article
How to Cite
Letnyakov D.E., Sharova V.L. (2024) Сity as a polis: agonistic practices in the urban environment. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology), 26(4): 136-162 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2023.26.4.5 EDN: TDABVX
Abstract
The article analyzes a special type of political behavior and political conflict, which the authors propose to call “agonistic”. Based on the works of Chantal Mouffe, Hannah Arendt and others, the concept of agonistics in the public sphere of democratically organized societies, is considered. The article notes that in the urban environment, agonistic conflicts manifest themselves most intensively, which, in particular, is due to the high degree of diversity of elements of the city as a system, as well as the presence in it of objects that have symbolic significance in the process of actors’ competition for the possession of discursive power. It is suggested that the “wars of memory and monuments”, which in recent years have been a significant part of the socio-political life in Europe and the societies of the post-Soviet space, can be interpreted in accordance with this concept. As examples, the authors explore two cases, which are: the debate around the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, England, and the discussion about the future of the Soviet cultural and architectural heritage in the capital of Latvia, Riga. The article also raises the following question: whether these cases should be considered in the context of a new area of socio-humanitarian knowledge, post-colonial urban studies.
Keywords:
urban studies, pluralism, political competition, symbolic politics, politics of memory, discursive power, political conflict, agonistic practices
References
Arendt H. (2000) Vita activa, ili O deyatel'noy zhizni [The Human Condition]. St. Petersburg: Aleteya (in Russian).
Ash A. (2010) Collective Culture and Urban Public Space. In: Kihato C. et al. (eds) Urban Diversity. Space, Culture and Inclusive Pluralism in Cities Worldwide. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Assman A. (2014) Dlinnaya ten' proshlogo: memorial'naya kul'tura i istoricheskaya politika [The Long Shadow of the Past: Memorial Culture and Politics]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Bell D. (2008) Agonistic Democracy and the Politics of Memory. Constellations, 15(1): 148–166.
Bishop R., Phillips J., Yeo W.W. (eds.) (2013) Postcolonial Urbanism: Southeast Asian Cities and Global Processes. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu P. (2007) O simvolicheskoy vlasti. Sotsiologiya sotsial'nogo prostranstva [On symbolic power. Sociology of social space]. Moscow: Institute of Experimental Sociology; St. Petersburg: Aleteyya: 87–96 (in Russian).
Bull A., Hansen H. (2016) On agonistic memory. Memory Studies, 4(9): 1–15.
Burch-Brown J. (2017) Is it wrong to topple statues and rename schools? Journal of Political Theory and Philosophy, 1: 59–88.
Catterall P. (2017) Changing Attitudes to the Past: Lieux de Memoire and Contested Histories. The Political Quarterly, 4(88): 632–639.
Common Sense. Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age (2021) Common Sense Group.
Datta A., Shaban A. (eds.) (2016) Mega-Urbanization in the Global South: Fast Cities and New Urban Utopias of the Postcolonial State. London: Taylor & Francis.
Edensor T., Jayne M. (eds.) (2012) Urban Theory beyond the West: A World of Cities. London: Routledge.
Epple N. (2022) Neudobnoye proshloye. Pamyat' o gosudarstvennykh prestupleniyakh v Rossii i drugikh stranakh [An Inconvenient Past. Memory of State Crimes in Russia and Other Countries]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Gaponenko A.V. (ed.) (2010) Pribaltiyskiye russkiye: istoriya v pamyatnikakh kul'tury [Baltic Russians: history in cultural monuments]. Riga: Institut yevropeyskikh issledovaniy [Institute for European Studies] (in Russian).
Halbwachs M. (2007) Sotsial'nyye ramki pamyati [Social Frameworks of Memory]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Hirsch M. (2021) Pokoleniye postpamyati. Pis'mo i vizual'naya kul'tura posle Kholokosta [The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Jacobs J. (2011) Smert' i zhizn' bol'shikh amerikanskikh gorodov [The Death and Life of Great American Cities]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Koposov N.Y. (2011) Pamyat' strogogo rezhima. Istoriya i politika v Rossii [Memory of the Brutal Regime: History and Politics in Russia]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Malinova O.Y. (2018) Politika pamyati kak oblast’ simvolicheskoi politiki [The politics of memory as an area of symbolic politics]. In: Miller A.I., Efremenko D.V. (eds) Metodologicheskie voprosy izucheniya politiki pamyati [Methodological Issues of Memory Studies]. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Nestor-istoriya: 27–53 (in Russian).
Miller A. (2009) Rossiya: vlast' i istoriya [Russia: Power and History]. Pro et Contra, 3–4(13): 6–23 (in Russian).
Mouffe Ch. (2005) On the Political. London: Routledge.
Mouffe Ch. (2013) Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. London; New York: Verso.
Nora P. (1999) Frantsiya-pamyat' [France — Memory]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta (in Russian).
Olick J.K. (1999) Collective Memory: The Two Cultures. Sociological Theory, 3(17): 333–348.
Platt K. (2010) Okkupatsiya vs. kolonizatsiya: istoriya, postkolonial'nost' i geograficheskaya identichnost'. Sluchay Latvii [Occupation vs. colonization: history, post-coloniality and geographic identity. Case of Latvia]. Neprikosnovennyy zapas, 3 [http://www.intelros.ru/readroom/nz/nz_71/6961-okkupaciya-vs-kolonizaciya-istoriya-postkolonialnost-i-geograficheskaya-identichnost-sluchaj-latvii.html] (accessed: 30.04.2023) (in Russian).
Ren J. (2020) Postcolonial Urbanism. In: Dilworth R. (ed.) Urban Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rossi A. (2015) Arkhitektura goroda [Architecture of the city]. Moscow: Strelka Press (in Russian).
Simmel G. (1909) Sotsial'naya differentsiatsiya: sotsiologicheskiye i psikhologicheskiye issledovaniya [Social differentiation: sociological and psychological studies]. Moscow: Izdaniye M. i. S. Sabashnikovykh (in Russian).
Smith A.D. (2004) Nacionalizm i modernizm: Kriticheskij obzor sovremennyh teorij nacij i nacionalizma [Nationalism and Modernism. A Critical Survey of Recent Theories of Nations and Nationalism]. Moscow: Praxis (in Russian).
Therborn G. (2020) Goroda vlasti. Gorod, natsiya, narod, global'nost' [Cities of power. City, nation, people, globality]. Moscow: ‘Vysshaya shkola ekonomiki’ Publ. (in Russian).
Tlostanova M. (2020) Postkolonial'nyy udel i dekolonial'nyy vybor: postsotsialisticheskaya mediatsiya [Post-colonial Destiny and Decolonial Choice: Post-Socialist Mediation] Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye, 1(161) [https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/161_nlo_1_2020/article/21972/] (accessed: 24.04.2023) (in Russian).
Trubina Y. (2020) Postkolonial'naya kritika i urbanisticheskaya teoriya [Post-colonial criticism and urban theory] Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye, 1(161) [https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/161_nlo_1_2020/article/21980/] (accessed: 29.04.2023) (in Russian).
Weber M. (2017) Gorod [City]. Moscow: Strelka Press (in Russian).
Ash A. (2010) Collective Culture and Urban Public Space. In: Kihato C. et al. (eds) Urban Diversity. Space, Culture and Inclusive Pluralism in Cities Worldwide. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Assman A. (2014) Dlinnaya ten' proshlogo: memorial'naya kul'tura i istoricheskaya politika [The Long Shadow of the Past: Memorial Culture and Politics]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Bell D. (2008) Agonistic Democracy and the Politics of Memory. Constellations, 15(1): 148–166.
Bishop R., Phillips J., Yeo W.W. (eds.) (2013) Postcolonial Urbanism: Southeast Asian Cities and Global Processes. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu P. (2007) O simvolicheskoy vlasti. Sotsiologiya sotsial'nogo prostranstva [On symbolic power. Sociology of social space]. Moscow: Institute of Experimental Sociology; St. Petersburg: Aleteyya: 87–96 (in Russian).
Bull A., Hansen H. (2016) On agonistic memory. Memory Studies, 4(9): 1–15.
Burch-Brown J. (2017) Is it wrong to topple statues and rename schools? Journal of Political Theory and Philosophy, 1: 59–88.
Catterall P. (2017) Changing Attitudes to the Past: Lieux de Memoire and Contested Histories. The Political Quarterly, 4(88): 632–639.
Common Sense. Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age (2021) Common Sense Group.
Datta A., Shaban A. (eds.) (2016) Mega-Urbanization in the Global South: Fast Cities and New Urban Utopias of the Postcolonial State. London: Taylor & Francis.
Edensor T., Jayne M. (eds.) (2012) Urban Theory beyond the West: A World of Cities. London: Routledge.
Epple N. (2022) Neudobnoye proshloye. Pamyat' o gosudarstvennykh prestupleniyakh v Rossii i drugikh stranakh [An Inconvenient Past. Memory of State Crimes in Russia and Other Countries]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Gaponenko A.V. (ed.) (2010) Pribaltiyskiye russkiye: istoriya v pamyatnikakh kul'tury [Baltic Russians: history in cultural monuments]. Riga: Institut yevropeyskikh issledovaniy [Institute for European Studies] (in Russian).
Halbwachs M. (2007) Sotsial'nyye ramki pamyati [Social Frameworks of Memory]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Hirsch M. (2021) Pokoleniye postpamyati. Pis'mo i vizual'naya kul'tura posle Kholokosta [The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Jacobs J. (2011) Smert' i zhizn' bol'shikh amerikanskikh gorodov [The Death and Life of Great American Cities]. Moscow: Novoye izdatel'stvo (in Russian).
Koposov N.Y. (2011) Pamyat' strogogo rezhima. Istoriya i politika v Rossii [Memory of the Brutal Regime: History and Politics in Russia]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (in Russian).
Malinova O.Y. (2018) Politika pamyati kak oblast’ simvolicheskoi politiki [The politics of memory as an area of symbolic politics]. In: Miller A.I., Efremenko D.V. (eds) Metodologicheskie voprosy izucheniya politiki pamyati [Methodological Issues of Memory Studies]. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Nestor-istoriya: 27–53 (in Russian).
Miller A. (2009) Rossiya: vlast' i istoriya [Russia: Power and History]. Pro et Contra, 3–4(13): 6–23 (in Russian).
Mouffe Ch. (2005) On the Political. London: Routledge.
Mouffe Ch. (2013) Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. London; New York: Verso.
Nora P. (1999) Frantsiya-pamyat' [France — Memory]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta (in Russian).
Olick J.K. (1999) Collective Memory: The Two Cultures. Sociological Theory, 3(17): 333–348.
Platt K. (2010) Okkupatsiya vs. kolonizatsiya: istoriya, postkolonial'nost' i geograficheskaya identichnost'. Sluchay Latvii [Occupation vs. colonization: history, post-coloniality and geographic identity. Case of Latvia]. Neprikosnovennyy zapas, 3 [http://www.intelros.ru/readroom/nz/nz_71/6961-okkupaciya-vs-kolonizaciya-istoriya-postkolonialnost-i-geograficheskaya-identichnost-sluchaj-latvii.html] (accessed: 30.04.2023) (in Russian).
Ren J. (2020) Postcolonial Urbanism. In: Dilworth R. (ed.) Urban Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rossi A. (2015) Arkhitektura goroda [Architecture of the city]. Moscow: Strelka Press (in Russian).
Simmel G. (1909) Sotsial'naya differentsiatsiya: sotsiologicheskiye i psikhologicheskiye issledovaniya [Social differentiation: sociological and psychological studies]. Moscow: Izdaniye M. i. S. Sabashnikovykh (in Russian).
Smith A.D. (2004) Nacionalizm i modernizm: Kriticheskij obzor sovremennyh teorij nacij i nacionalizma [Nationalism and Modernism. A Critical Survey of Recent Theories of Nations and Nationalism]. Moscow: Praxis (in Russian).
Therborn G. (2020) Goroda vlasti. Gorod, natsiya, narod, global'nost' [Cities of power. City, nation, people, globality]. Moscow: ‘Vysshaya shkola ekonomiki’ Publ. (in Russian).
Tlostanova M. (2020) Postkolonial'nyy udel i dekolonial'nyy vybor: postsotsialisticheskaya mediatsiya [Post-colonial Destiny and Decolonial Choice: Post-Socialist Mediation] Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye, 1(161) [https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/161_nlo_1_2020/article/21972/] (accessed: 24.04.2023) (in Russian).
Trubina Y. (2020) Postkolonial'naya kritika i urbanisticheskaya teoriya [Post-colonial criticism and urban theory] Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye, 1(161) [https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/161_nlo_1_2020/article/21980/] (accessed: 29.04.2023) (in Russian).
Weber M. (2017) Gorod [City]. Moscow: Strelka Press (in Russian).
Article
Received: 09.06.2023
Accepted: 11.12.2023
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
ACM
[1]
Letnyakov, D.E. and Sharova, V.L. 2024. Сity as a polis: agonistic practices in the urban environment. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology). 26, 4 (Jan. 2024), 136-162. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2023.26.4.5.
" />
