GCRO Researchers present at the RC21 conference in Mexico

Two GCRO researchers, Darlington Mushongera and Aidan Mosselson, attended the RC21 Annual Conference in Mexico from 21 to 23 July 2016. RC21 refers to the Research Committee 21 of the International Sociological Association - on the Sociology of Urban and Regional Development. The 2016 conference, which took place at Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, was themed ‘The Transgressive City’.

Aidan Mosselson, a post-doctoral research fellow at the GCRO, co-organised a panel entitled 'Ethnographic Explorations of Urban Policy-making and Implementation Processes'. The panel was divided into three sessions: ‘Ethnographies of state and bureaucratic practices, local politics and policy formation’; ‘Everyday experiences of urban policies, service delivery and citizen participation’; and ‘Ethnographic accounts of urban regeneration projects, public space and prospects for inclusion’. In total, 11 papers were presented across the three sessions and they brought together scholars undertaking research in a diverse collection of cities including Rio de Janeiro, Bafata, Paris, Johannesburg, Bogota, Beijing and Mumbai.

Darlington Mushongera participated in the abovementioned panel in the session on ‘Ethnographies of state and bureaucratic practices, local politics and policy formation’. He presented part of his PhD work on ethnographies of the state in the City of Johannesburg.

The 2016 RC21 Conference included 26 streams and 200 presentations, with discussion centered on concept of the “transgressive city” and its consequences for governance. Renowned South African academics, Sophie Oldfield (University of Cape Town) and Alan Mabin were also present at the conference.