For our WPC58 we had the honour to have Professor Swyngedouw as a keynote speaker with the talk “Immunitary Planning: Uneven socio-ecological Urbanization in the planetary city".
Swyngedouw is a Professor of geography at the University of Manchester, School of Environment, Education and Development, and a Member of the Manchester Urban Institute. He is a recognized leading international expert in environment-society relationships and the analysis of the capitalist space economy, with an emphasis on socio-environmental conflict, water politics, political-economic crisis, and urban political movements. His talk explores the potential de-politicizing processes that accompany the controversies over the Anthropocene. With him, we discuss and uncover some of the uncomfortable, disturbing dynamics that are not readily visible behind the narratives of sustainability and resilience. We also explore possible trajectories for re-politicization and the alternative socio-ecological relations that planners can be engaged with.