Migrant cities: place, power, and voice in the era of super diversity

ABSTRACT

Immigration scholars have long considered cities to be important environments that mediate how immigrants are incorporated into receiving countries. While most scholars recognise that cities have some importance, they continue to prioritise national-level institutions, organisations, networks, and cultural dynamics. This paper introduces the special issue on 'Migrant Cities'. The special issue asserts that cities are not simply backdrops where national-level processes and mechanisms unfold. The contributing scholars reveal how cities are distinctive environments with unique constraints and opportunities. Following a basic introduction, the paper examines how to apply these general assumptions about cities to understanding the political formation of immigrants. The paper does this by urbanising Nancy Fraser’s concept of 'counterpublic'. We suggest that cities possess certain qualities that enable the formation of immigrant counterpublics, which in turn become critical spaces of politicisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigration
• cities
• counterpublic
• political formation

Notes

1 The more distinct a group is in terms of phenotypicial or cultural characteristics from the rest of the population, the greater the level of prejudice associated with these traits, and the lower the probability of exit from the situation, then the stronger the sentiments of in-group solidarity among its members and the higher the appropriable social capital based on this solidarity. (1329)