Global Cities

Abstract

This chapter highlights the productive role of class struggle and cultural identities for shaping the character of global cities. Global or world cities are hubs for the coordination of global economic flows. This thesis is at the core of a debate that emerged in the mid-1980s about the changing world capitalist system. In contrast to approaches that prioritize class conflict as a primary lens for understanding life struggles in the global city, a debate emerges about cultural diversity. In a globalized world, cultures move with people. They are de- and reterritorialized and dynamically shaped through the intense transregional and transnational links between countries and their multiple diasporas. The social differential of the global city, its ruptured social spaces and unequal power relations fuel tensions. The case of Moore Street Market in Williamsburg/Bushwick Brooklyn illustrates the uneasy compromise between different needs and their negotiation among hierarchically distinguished stakeholders.

Biographical Note

Prof. Dr. Ursula Rao ( SFB 1199 & Leipzig University)

Ursula Rao is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Leipzig. Her research explores questions of politics and governance in India, with a specific focus on urban dynamics. Currently, she is involved in several research projects about the social consequences of biometric technology and e-governance. How do the new tools and techniques of governing impact human relations and state-citizens interactions? Other fields of interests include question of urban citizenship and social justice, as well as journalistic practices, ritual theory and urban Hinduism.Before joining the University of Leipzig Ursula Rao held academic positions at the University of Heidelberg (1999-2002), the University of Halle (2002-2006) and the University of New South Wales, Sydney (2007-2012).