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P15a


has 1 film 1
The nation in the city: mingling custom and cadastre 
Convenors:
Jennifer Day (The University of Melbourne)
Monica Minnegal (University of Melbourne)
Barbara Andersen (Massey University)
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Discussant:
Benedicta Rousseau (University of Melbourne)
Format:
Panel
Sessions:
Thursday 25 November, -
Time zone: Australia/Sydney

Short Abstract:

This panel asks how people think about the nation as they negotiate uses of urbanised land. We invite papers from any geographies where custom mingles with introduced law, to describe how relational and categorical identities are mobilised in narratives about urban life, dispossession, and change.

Long Abstract:

This panel asks how people think about the nation as they negotiate uses of urbanised land in places when custom forms part of governance. In particular, we ask how people balance notions of nation against the 'right to the city'.

Cities, as sites of state power, pull into relief the tensions between nationhood and urbanisation. People without a customary claim to urban land are beginning to demand governance that recognises their place in the city - while at the same time valuing national narratives of indigenous landownership and customary governance. The idea of the nation, then, adapts and shifts in urban spaces. The relevance of the national narrative may be different for those autochthonous populations with an acknowledged birthright to the city, compared to those who must negotiate a right to the city by buying in or using custom.

We take an expanded interpretation of the term, nation, referring to narratives of national identity and sub-national or territorial identities. At the same time, we recognise the importance of the institutional apparatus of statehood: courts, laws, police, and government departments - the elements that mediate between and sometimes conflict with national identities. We recognise, too, that similar contradictions may be in play at other scales, wherever a central place (camp, village, town, city) emerges as the locus for aspirational futures.

We invite papers from any geographies where custom mingles with introduced law and institutions, to describe how relational and categorical identities are mobilised in narratives about urban life, dispossession, and change.

Accepted papers:

Session 1 Thursday 25 November, 2021, -
Panel Video visible to paid-up delegates