Reflections on Urban Crises, the Science-Policy Interface and the Importance of “Tiny Revolts”

ABSTRACT

There is barely a field of academic research not subject to crisis claims. Many urban crises span careers and take significant emotional tolls. This is not due to a lack of effort. Academic productivity, as it is typically measured, is rapidly increasing and success claims commonplace. This article reflects critically upon the science-policy interface and interprets the work of Julia Kristeva to discuss the importance of creating “tiny revolts” able to rescale and reframe inquiry, and to problematise success. I argue these revolts hold potential in sustaining ourselves and others, as well as in creating new acts of critical thinking.

摘要

几乎没有一个学术研究领域不受危机的影响。许多城市危机跨越了职业生涯，并造成了巨大的情感损失。这并不是因为缺乏努力。正如通常所衡量的那样，学术生产力正在迅速提高，成功的要求也很普遍。这篇文章批判性地反思了科学与政策的关系，并解释了Julia Kristeva的工作，讨论了创造“微小反抗”的重要性，这些反抗能够重新调整规模和重塑调查，并将成功问题化。我认为这些反抗有可能维持我们自己和他人，以及创造新的批判性思维行为。

KEYWORDS:

• Urban crises
• tiny revolts
• activism
• science-policy interface
• Julia Kristeva
• implications for urban policy

Acknowledgements

This paper is a fuller version of the Public City Keynote at the State of Australasian Cities Conference, 2021. It is fair to say, and not without some irony, that without that invitation I would never have found the opportunity to articulate these ideas, nor allocate the time to reflect more deeply on the problematic nature of urban crises. I would like to thank those who engaged during and post the conference as their ideas have further influenced my thinking. I would also like to thank the editors and reviewers of the first draft of this paper for some very insightful critiques and suggestions, whilst absolving them for responsibility for any problems that remain. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to acknowledge the legacy of Dr Paul Mees, who inspired this provocation and continues to stimulate academic debate, activism and advocacy.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 SciVal is a powerful research analytics software from Elsevier. See: https://www.scival.com/.