Communication Commons^™

Can The Global City Enable Democratic Autonomy? Re-Reading David Harvey And Saskia Sassen, Micky Lee

College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Works

The global city is imagined to be a space that accommodates flows of people, ideas, cultures and—most importantly—capital. It is also imagined to enjoy a high degree of decision-making autonomy from the nation. However, the rise of nationalism and covid lockdowns have called into question what a global city means when nation-states can stop global flows in and out from a city. Hong Kong is a good case study because the international community has been questioning this former British colony's global status due to overt political control from the Central Chinese government and stringent border control during the pandemic. However, …

Heterotopia As A Site Of Resistance In A Global City: How Informal Practices Can Subvert The State And Finance Capital, Micky Lee

College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Works

David Harvey and Michel Foucault have both theorized the concept “heterotopia” as a site of resistance. In this site, “informal” and mundane activities are enacted to resist measures and practices imposed by the state and finance capital. To Harvey, heterotopia is constituted by acts, affects, and meaning-making among residents in an urban space. To Foucault, heterotopia is formed when the wrong people showing up in the wrong place doing the wrong thing. Both senses of heterotopia threaten spaces that the state designed to maximize capital flows in a global city.

Hong Kong is a good case study because recent crises …