Urban Conflicts

This collection of texts presents the work shared at the laboratory "Encounters and Conflicts in the City of Crisis," held from April 2013 to June 2014 in the Thucydides Valentis Room of the Faculty of Architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The laboratory was initiated by doctoral candidates and other members of the academic community with the goal of fostering a fresh, innovative approach to architecture. The purpose of the lab was to create an open space for discussion, presentations, and lectures addressing the challenges of urban spaces amid the ongoing social and economic crisis. Recognizing both the absence of such forums within the university and the shrinking of existing ones, we saw this initiative as crucial—not only for advancing academic knowledge and research but for supporting our own intellectual and physical maintenance. Through this lab, we aimed to approach our doctoral research as a collaborative effort, encouraging interaction, dialogue, and the sharing of knowledge. We wanted to bring our work, which might otherwise remain isolated in libraries or digital files, into an open, collective space. We emphasized the importance of communication among doctoral candidates, engagement with undergraduate students, and connection with researchers from outside Greece. In this context, interdisciplinarity emerged as an essential aspect of the workshop, responding to the increasing fragmentation of knowledge and academic disciplines. In opposition to the privatized, commercialized university model and the dominance of neoliberal policies, we sought radical epistemological tools for knowledge production that support movements for social emancipation and empowerment. Our goal was to examine and discuss critical epistemological approaches for studying spatial expressions of crisis across various contexts and scales. Today, we believe it is especially urgent to promote the dissemination, deepening, and interconnection of these critical approaches with ongoing social struggles. Throughout the workshop presentations and discussions, a range of perspectives and tools emerged, including dialectics, critical spatial theory, interdisciplinarity, as well as cultural, political, and postcolonial approaches. These conversations also underscored the crucial role of space in shaping contemporary issues, covering topics such as neoliberal spatial policies, social and cultural movements, migration geographies, the role of the state and nation, and the urban environment. To foster both interdisciplinarity and international engagement, we ensured that workshop participants represented diverse backgrounds and regions, drawing on expertise from fields such as architecture, urban and regional planning, geography, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, visual arts, political science, law, economics, and pedagogy. Most of the 57 presentations from the workshops are included in this collection. The volume organizes these discussions into five thematic sections: I. Spatial Policies and Practices, II. Body, Gender, and Sexuality in Urban Space, III. Geographies of Migration, IV. Contested Spaces and Places,V. Common Space and Social Movements of Cities and peripheries. Each section addresses critical issues and emerging perspectives within these themes, reflecting the diversity of topics explored during the workshops. The laboratory was launched by Vaso Makrygianni, Orestis Pagkalos, Haris Tsavdaroglou and Eirini Oreopoulou and current members are Kostas Athanasiou, Eleni Vasdeki, Elina Kapetanaki, Maria Karayianni, Matina Kapsali, Vaso Makrygianni, Foteini Mamali, Orestis Pagkalos, Haris Tsavdaroglou. We are grateful for the contributions of Evi Athanasiou, Lia Yioka, Dimitris Kotsakis, and Sasha Lada, and we would like to thank everyone who participated and helped make these meetings possible. In closing, we feel it is important to briefly acknowledge the setting of these seminars—the university space itself, a place we consciously chose to position ourselves within, alongside, and sometimes against. Historically, the university has been a fertile ground for collective emancipatory actions, social struggles, and radical experiments in self-organized knowledge production. However, in recent decades, neoliberal restructuring has transformed universities at every level, from modes of collectivization to curriculum content. This shift has affected everyone, from dismissed workers to marginalized researchers and the shrinking teaching staff, aligning academic priorities with market demands and marginalizing critical approaches. In times of crisis, the neoliberalization of public universities appears to be accelerating. Against this backdrop, dynamic resistance movements have emerged worldwide, with social struggles taking root within universities that inspire, connect with, and learn from broader movements beyond their walls. Amid this shifting landscape, we continue to view our work as a means of advancing and sharing critical thought. We envision universities as living, open laboratories—a space and a starting point for meaningful encounters.