Cities in the Anthropocene
The Director of the Centre: Vincent Mirza
Associate Professor I School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies I uOttawa
Holder of the uOttawa-ULyon Joint Research Chair on Urban Anthropocene
“While 50% of the world's population is now living in cities and the growth-at-all-costs model runs out of steam, it is essential to think of new paradigms to face the major demographic, ecological and infrastructure challenges of the 21st century.
These transformations must be understood in the context of both global flows of populations, finance, goods, etc. and local contextual constraints specific to the cultural and social challenges of cities.
To explore degrowth, work transformations and urban metabolism, it is critical to understand how the differential access to resources is rooted in a capitalist context and in its unequal structuring of space, places, and social relations. Interdisciplinary research and interfaculty collaborations will shed important light and redefine the social and ethical issues of urban lifestyles and processes. This is what we are going to do with the collaboration of the faculties of Social Sciences, Arts, Health Sciences, Sciences, Engineering, as well as the faculties of Law Civil Law Section and Law Common Law Section.”
Our strategies to meet these contemporary challenges
- Our approach: To develop tools for the analysis and interpretation of social, cultural, and economic urban issues, that will enable us to go beyond the models inherited from the 20th century.
- Synergies and collaborations: To establish a major research hub at the University of Ottawa, to enable research and educational collaborations with a focus on cities and large urban centres, in Canada and internationally.
- Method and perspective: To examine the evolution of urban lifestyles and spaces, as well as issues pertaining to the future of cities and the Anthropocene, in a multi-sited and interdisciplinary perspective.
- Analysis: To propose new perspectives on the city and the Anthropocene to devise potential solutions to pressing contemporary issues.
News
2022
Talks and art pieces from The Smartification of Everything are now available online!
2021
- Dahlia Naman and Isabelle Perreault were awarded the SSHRC Insight Development Grant for the project "Ces morts qui ne comptent pas : autopsie sociale et politique des corps non réclamés au Québec"
- Assistant Professor Mathieu Lizotte was awarded the SSHRC Insight Development Grant for his project "Surendettement, insolvabilité et moralité : étude de cas sur la faillite personnelle au Canada"
- Associate Professor Daina Mazutis has won a Best Paper Award in the Social Responsibility Division at the ASAC 2021 Conference.
- Congratulations to Professor Larisa Kurtović for winning a well-deserved award!
Events
Past Events
Hybrid Symposium April 7-8, 2022
Knowledge, utopias and the production of the common (French only) : sensitive reflection on the production of democratic and accessible knowledge, whose limits are pushed back and through which utopian projects are recognized. Register
Conference on April 14, 2022
Urban neo-colonialism and defense of Mayan territory in the city of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico (French only) : Rolando Magana Canul will discuss how a community is mobilizing and reaffirming its Mayan identity in the face of encroachment on its collective lands generated by urban development in the city of Merida. Register
