Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm

In the last few decades, “the city” has emerged as an important entity in our understanding of contemporary globalization, both as a place and as a discourse. As a place, it has become critical in shaping the contours of the world economy leading to a renewed importance of “global cities.” The city...

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Main Author: Ravi Ghadge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kennesaw State University 2019-01-01
Series:Journal of Public and Professional Sociology
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jpps/vol11/iss1/3/
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author Ravi Ghadge
author_facet Ravi Ghadge
author_sort Ravi Ghadge
collection DOAJ
description In the last few decades, “the city” has emerged as an important entity in our understanding of contemporary globalization, both as a place and as a discourse. As a place, it has become critical in shaping the contours of the world economy leading to a renewed importance of “global cities.” The city (“world/global city”) has also become an important site of discourse. The “world/global city paradigm” has not only become a hegemonic academic discourse, but also a critical policy tool that directs and justifies restructuring of urban space in the global South. Through a synthesis of recent literature on urbanism in the US and the global South, this paper attempts to critically understand the “world/global city paradigm” and its rise within particular socio-historical contexts in the global North. Further, the paper examines the “paradigm’s” effectiveness in understanding urbanism in the South. The paper argues that given the specific contexts within which these urban discourses emerge, they are unable to critically address unique geometries of power and inequality and how they shape urbanism in the South. The paper concludes by offering some alternatives for a culturally and historically rooted analysis of urbanism.
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spelling doaj-art-5340d476cf0e459eb352926c4efda8242025-08-20T03:29:02ZengKennesaw State UniversityJournal of Public and Professional Sociology2154-89352019-01-01111Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City ParadigmRavi Ghadge0Kennesaw State UniversityIn the last few decades, “the city” has emerged as an important entity in our understanding of contemporary globalization, both as a place and as a discourse. As a place, it has become critical in shaping the contours of the world economy leading to a renewed importance of “global cities.” The city (“world/global city”) has also become an important site of discourse. The “world/global city paradigm” has not only become a hegemonic academic discourse, but also a critical policy tool that directs and justifies restructuring of urban space in the global South. Through a synthesis of recent literature on urbanism in the US and the global South, this paper attempts to critically understand the “world/global city paradigm” and its rise within particular socio-historical contexts in the global North. Further, the paper examines the “paradigm’s” effectiveness in understanding urbanism in the South. The paper argues that given the specific contexts within which these urban discourses emerge, they are unable to critically address unique geometries of power and inequality and how they shape urbanism in the South. The paper concludes by offering some alternatives for a culturally and historically rooted analysis of urbanism.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jpps/vol11/iss1/3/
spellingShingle Ravi Ghadge
Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
Journal of Public and Professional Sociology
title Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
title_full Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
title_fullStr Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
title_full_unstemmed Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
title_short Toward a Critical Understanding of the World/Global City Paradigm
title_sort toward a critical understanding of the world global city paradigm
url https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jpps/vol11/iss1/3/
work_keys_str_mv AT ravighadge towardacriticalunderstandingoftheworldglobalcityparadigm