Urban policy mobility, anti-politics, and histories of the transnational municipal movement

This paper brings geographical research on urban policy mobility into conversation with historical research on the transnational municipal movement. It argues that much of conceptual and methodological interest can be found in this second literature, especially in Pierre-Yves Saunier’s research on the ‘Urban International’ of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also uses findings from Saunier’s work to identify and highlight salient characteristics and new lines of inquiry regarding contemporary urban policy mobility. These include that urban policy circulation in the 21st century is (dis)organized, geographically extensive, fast, and anti-political.