Speakers
Description
Right-wing politics are on the rise globally, with politicians increasingly promoting nativism and anti-immigrant rhetoric combined with neoliberal policies. While many theorists might expect marginalized urban populations to turn to leftist politics to improve their living conditions, these groups often align with right-wing movements. Rather than dismissing such choices as misguided, our comparative project seeks to examine what political participation entails, the political discourses that emerge in impoverished urban spaces, and the broader political, economic, and social landscapes that shape these alignments.
Focusing on two marginalized neighborhoods—one in Turkey and one in Colombia—we aim to understand how impoverished populations respond to global political and economic shifts by embracing policies and discourses that often stigmatize them. Despite their geographic and historical differences, these neighborhoods share striking similarities: they predominantly house migrants from marginalized backgrounds, have histories of irregular occupation, are sites of clientelist politics, and have undergone massive urban redevelopment projects. These parallels highlight how global trends disenfranchise and disempower vulnerable populations while incorporating their labor and resources into global economic streams.
By studying these sites comparatively, we aim to create a framework for understanding how global political trends are reframed locally. Our inquiry seeks to destabilize assumptions about political subjects and ideologies, asking: What does “the right” look like in these spaces? How do economic precarity and local dynamics shape political allegiance and participation? What are the stakes for marginalized populations engaging in such politics?
| Keywords | urban dispossession, urban redevelopment, migration, inclusion, right-wing |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
