Neoliberal crises and the city: Wrestling with authoritarian neoliberal urbanism(s)

This Special Issue presents ‘authoritarian neoliberal urbanism’ as an empirical marker and a concept that signposts the ascendence of a new constellation in which authoritarianism becomes an ever-growing force in our cities in the neoliberal present, not only structuring how urban space is experienced but also repurposing it to reinforce authoritarian legitimacy and consolidate political power. This paper introduces six contributions that empirically or conceptually uncover some of the complexities of this new constellation which have remained untracked, unnarrated and misdiagnosed. We draw on the collective insights from these contributions to posit that authoritarian neoliberal urbanism is neither monolithic nor uniformly oppressive. It adapts to local contexts and conjunctural shifts, is (re)configured through both formal and informal, flexible and rigid, (il)legitimate and illegible governance tools and through complex engagements between the state, market actors and urban populations alike, often in tandem with the state’s continuous effort to (re)secure political legitimacy. Such paradoxes, we suggest, urge taking seriously the variegated, contested, and evolving nature of authoritarian neoliberal urbanism(s) as well as their context-specific and situated contradictions and ambiguities. It is within these contradictions and ambiguities that alternatives to neoliberal continuity may be found and the intensifying slide towards illiberal form(s) of capitalism can be transcended.