Producing Mayaland
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Producing Mayaland
Author: Claudia Fonseca Alfaro
language: en
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Release Date: 2023-04-10
Producing Mayaland “Producing Mayaland powerfully captures the extent to which the abstract spaces of global capital are infused with colonial fantasies, haunted by uncanny ruins, and plagued by monstrous manifestations of ecological breakdown. Through a compelling account of the maquiladora industry in the Yucatan Peninsula, Claudia Fonseca Alfaro vividly conveys the inextricable entanglements of the capitalist production of space and the coloniality of power.” —Japhy Wilson, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK “In Producing Mayaland, Claudia Fonseca Alfaro finds a unique voice to narrate the contested relations between everyday life, urbanization and the uneven development of capitalism in Motul, Yucatán, Mexico. The remarkable insights of this work emerge from her innovative synthesis of critical urban theory, anticolonialism and ‘magical realism’— all grounded in an imaginative appropriation of Henri Lefebvre’s oeuvre on the production of space.” — Kanishka Goonewardena, Professor of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto Critical urban theory and postcolonial approaches are brought together in this compelling book to explore the relationship between colonial legacies, urbanization, and global capitalism in southern Mexico. Producing Mayaland investigates the boom-to-bust story of maquiladoras in the state of Yucatán to shed light on how the built environment was shaped by discourse, imaginaries, and everyday practices. In making sense of this social production of space, the author examines infrastructure constructed to support the maquiladora project and traces the attempts of the state to portray Yucatán as an exotic and business-friendly maquiladora paradise. These practices stand in contrast to the livelihood strategies and life stories of maquiladora workers and residents. Carefully weaving geography, history, and ethnography, the author draws on a wide range of sources to illustrate a central tension in capitalism: its tendency to homogenize while thriving in differentiation. With important insights into an understudied location, Producing Mayaland urges us to understand urbanization in the global South in new ways.
Liquid Democracy
“This timely book carefully interrogates the increasingly fraught intersections of the digital, the city, and democracy. It is a book that will endure, bristling as it is with thoughtful reflection and insight on the democratic challenges that unfold amidst the ordinary, troubled and generative digital worlds of cities as different as Madrid, Taipei and Helsinki. Amidst the work of policymakers, activists, and engineers, what emerges is a hopeful exploration of what ‘digital democracy platforms’ might enable.” —Professor Colin McFarlane, Durham University “This vital book moves beyond a universal analysis of the effects of social media platforms on liberal democracy. Through an in-depth examination of civic platforms in Finland, Spain and Taiwan, Tseng provides a compelling and nuanced empirical and theoretical analysis of the contingent relationship between platforms, place and democracy.” —Professor Rob Kitchin, Maynooth University Reimagining Democracy in the Digital and Urban Age How can democracy adapt and thrive in a world reshaped by artificial intelligence and digital platforms? In Liquid Democracy, author Yu-Shan Tseng offers a bold new framework for understanding democracy as a dynamic, fluid process. Challenging the idea that AI and digital tools are inherently anti-democratic, this innovative volume bridges theory and practice to investigate various “liquid conditions,” a novel concept capturing how political action flows and transforms like water within the intersections of urban spaces and digital technologies. Through an in-depth comparative study of three groundbreaking digital democracy platforms—Decide Madrid in Madrid, OmaStadi in Helsinki, and vTaiwan in Taipei—Tseng explores how digital platforms can foster participatory governance, pluralism, and alternative democratic futures. In-depth chapters critically examine the interactions between humans, algorithms, and urban systems, revealing how digital tools reconfigure the boundaries of political participation, decision-making, and collective action. Throughout the text, Tseng offers fresh insights into how democracy emerges under contingent conditions shaped by technology and geography. Drawing from years of ethnographic fieldwork, Liquid Democracy is essential reading for master’s and PhD students in geography, political science, and urban studies, as well as scholars, practitioners, and policymakers interested in digital governance, smart cities, civic technology, and algorithmic politics.
Reimagining Urban Marxisms
This volume presents an interdisciplinary and international revaluation of urban Marxisms. Bringing together the main critical Marxist perspectives from around the world on contemporary urban studies, it engages with a range of issues connected to the “urban question,” such as urban sprawl, housing, and increasing rates of urbanization across the globe. With attention to the manner in which the three axes of class, gender, and race play a fundamental role in contemporary social phenomena, it interweaves different issues that are inextricably linked in matters of urban inequality. The book bridges a significant gap between urban studies and Marxists theories by reviving Marx and Engels’ ideas in the context of analyzing urban studies in the twenty-first century. The objective is to bring together diverse perspectives and directions of the ongoing debate on the “urban question.” Although there are multiple Marxisms and theoretical currents inspired by Marxism that seek to understand the urban and spatial transformations of today, there has been a lack of comprehensive scholarship that systematically brings them together to frame this debate. The goal is to unite the main critical Marxist perspectives on contemporary urban studies. Reimagining Urban Marxisms will therefore appeal to scholars across disciplines with interests in Marxist analyses of contemporary urban and spatial transformations, and the phenomenon of planetary urbanization.