Popular Participation, Space, and Politics In Global South

This session examines the multiple relationships between space and popular politics. Recent decades have seen the Global South experience significant urban uprisings with substantial popular class involvement. Rooted in active local associations, groups such as young people, peasants, Indigenous communities, workers, and the urban poor have called for greater social inclusion and political incorporation (Rossi, 2019). While some countries responded with political initiatives that challenged neoliberal hegemony and aimed at democratization, many mobilizations did not align with leftist parties or result in clear transformation plans (Bayat, 2017). Today, conservative movements and far-right leaders are gaining substantial support among the popular classes worldwide.

Additionally, urban uprisings have re-emphasized the significance of space in political involvement, as protests have extended to peripheral and underprivileged neighborhoods. Local spaces define identities, common grievances, and serve as loci for expressing collective demands and engaging with formal political actors. To grasp this political cycle and how it affects popular participation, it is crucial to analyze the shift from factory-based to local territory-based politics (Merklen, 2009). This session aims to foster a dialogue between political sociology and urban studies to better understand the current issues facing popular politics in the Global South. We welcome proposals based on empirical research that seek to answer questions such as What new political identities emerge at the local level? How do various scales interact within popular politics? In what ways does the State either hinder or facilitate the participation of popular classes? What are the spatial strategies of political actors?