CANOAS, MAY 2015 | LAW AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY

Annual Conference: Research Committee on the Sociology of Law

Members of IRGLUS met on May 6, 2015 at the International Conference Sociology of Law on the Move in Canoas Brazil, for a dedicated session titled “Law and The Right to the City”. The session featured three papers, followed by a lively discussion on the possibilities and challenges of a “Right to the City” framework for creating more just urban spaces.
 
In the first paper, “Human rights vs. right to the city: comparative evidence on the capacity of law to promote urban justice,” LaDawn Haglund (Arizona State University, USA) explored the question of how human rights, as pursued through law, might support a “Right to the City” framing of urban justice, as well as how a “Right to the City” and political economy framing might strengthen to urban struggles for human rights. Utilizing comparisons between Johannesburg, South Africa and São Paulo, Brazil, she showed how law was opening new spaces for justice struggles to occur, but underscored the importance of simultaneous non-legal interventions for promoting meaningful social transformation.
 
In the second paper, “Law and the right to the city: the search for definitions,” Bianca Margarita (University of São Paulo, Brazil) presented theoretical work by her and co-author Damin Tavolari on disagreements among “Right to the City” scholars on how to define this right. Exploring the work of several scholars, including the original framing by Lefebvre, the authors conclude that perhaps too much energy is spent trying to arrive at a “correct” definition and not enough on efforts to support urban justice movements as they emerge and on their own terms.
 
Finally, in his paper “Beyond the Island of Magic: Public Space Regulation in Florianopolis, Brazil,” Lucas Konzen (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) explored how public space is regulated in tourist cities like Florianopolis. His analysis underscores the spatial segregations that emerged between residents of the city and the “tourist bubble,” as a result of concrete decisions to prioritize tourism over potential needs or demands of residents for public spaces and services.

Authored by: LaDawn Haglund.