Work

Urban political ecology: Recovering the subject

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In this article I trace evolving conceptions of the human subject through successive waves of urban political ecology literature. My argument proceeds via a series of loosely chronological archetypes: the collective subject; the embodied subject; the multiple subject; the porous subject; the creative subject; the occluded subject; and the neo-human subject. I suggest that there is significant potential for reworking existing conceptions of agency and subjectivity within the field. I conclude that a more conceptually refined vantage point for urban political ecology offers a distinctive alternative to the more diffuse or flattened ontologies associated with new materialism.

Source: Urban Political Ecology

DOI: 10.1177/30497515261423305

Author: Matthew Gandy

Institution: University of Cambridge

Language: English

Topic: Posthumanist Ethics and Activism

Subfield: Cultural Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,400