In this guest post, Dr Paroj Banerjee, Dr Ishita Chatterjee, and Dr Raffael Beier share their plan for a series of seminars focused on non-dominant inhabitation, supported by the USF Seminar Series Award. The project aims to define ‘non-dominance’ as existing on the edges of power, seen in how people live differently from what is normally expected in the city.
Introduction
“Epistemes of non-dominant inhabitation: a seminar series for early-career and under-represented scholars to decentre urban knowledge” seeks to confront the dominance of Western theorising of urban inhabitation, as well as the under-representation of the voices of ECRs and academic precariats in urban theory. Building on an initial hybrid double-session at the 2023 Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG) Annual Conference on ‘Emerging geographies of non-dominant inhabitations’, this seminar series responds to both an intellectual and structural injustice in urban knowledge production. It highlights the contributions of early-career and underrepresented scholars who explore diverse forms of urban inhabitation, moving beyond what we typically consider “normal” ways of dwelling. By delving deeply into the everyday lives of urban residents, the series aims to question the governmentalities that prescribe how people should be living in the city (such as through property ownership, institutional shelters, social housing). Querying the dominant framings of marginalised urban living as ‘exceptional’ or ‘deviant’ across disciplines spanning urban studies, geography, development studies, anthropology and planning, this seminar series seeks to decentre academic knowledge production. It aims to significantly advance theorisation and counter-mainstream understanding of urban inhabitation by critically examining “non-dominance” as a conceptual and empirical entry point.
Contemporary scholarship analyses urban transformation processes in two distinct ways. On the one hand, a brand of scholarship has highlighted the revanchist aftermaths of neoliberal transformation, manifested through gentrification, emergence of exclusionary discourse of citizenship (Brenner and Schmid, 2015; Lees, Shin and López Morales, 2016; Roy 2009; Watson 2014; Escobar 2019). On the other hand, scholars, albeit within the analytical framework of systemic oppression, have rebranded responses to urban marginality and dispossession as politics of the informal, entrepreneurial, resistant, navigational and radical (Anjaria and McFarlane 2011; Bayat, 2012; Varley 2013; Lancione 2020; Boano and Astolfo 2020). In both these epistemologies marginalised living in the city have been presented as ‘exceptional’ obscuring the more ordinary experiences of inhabitation (Banerjee 2023a), subversions to systemic dispossession and expressions of aspirations of urban dwellers who imagine and inhabit the city in ways that do not fit with the mainstream understanding of urban inhabitation (Banerjee 2023a, 2023b; Beier, 2023a, 2023b). Regarding ‘non-dominance’ as an analytical entry-point, this seminar series de-centres knowledge production on non-dominant urban inhabitation in two ways.
One, we define ‘non-dominance’ as spatio-temporal ontologies located at peripheries of power which can be read through the deviations from normative expectations of habitability (Banerjee, 2023a). For many urban poor, livelihood choices, access to basic services, and social and political networks are shaped by how they inhabit the city—an aspect often overlooked by developmental interpretations of welfare and housing (Turner, 1976). While we pay particular attention to the hegemonic iterations of housing that practices from the ground-up resist and reorient to address dispossession and meet aspirations of urban life. We also question the treatment of ‘difference’ as radical (Simone 2016; Lancione, 2020) as not all deviations arise from a conscious countering of power. We question the developmental and humanitarian manifestations of housing as a key register of urban citizenship not only foreclose possibilities and politics of dwelling but also eliminate varied ways people live and feel ‘at-home’ in the city (see images 1 and 2 below). Non-dominant inhabitation thus extends beyond materialities (such as a house) and are entangled in myriad social, spatial, economic and temporal processes of staking a claim to urban space. It also de-centres theory of housing/dwelling from idealised notions of ontological security to discuss inhabitation in geographies of occupations, violence, demolitions, contestations (Handel, 2019).
Two, this seminar series prioritises early career researchers, under-represented scholars (URSs), and what Butcher et al. (2025) have recently referred to as the academic precariat . It is aimed at creating a collective of scholars who query the experiences of inhabiting the city diverging from familiar conceptual categorisations. We question the dominant representations of the Third World city (such as through slum-centrism or ‘informality’) and the erasure of dwelling practices that exist at the intersection of permanence and temporariness refugee camps, homes in settler colonial contexts, pavement dwellers).
Statement of positioning
Through its threefold focus on epistemic justice, support for ECRs and URSs, and sustained engagement beyond academia, this seminar series aims to create a politically grounded and intellectually rigorous community committed to reimagining and reshaping urban knowledge. The different events serve as networking, learning and career advancement opportunities for ECRs and URSs who may otherwise struggle to access international academic spaces. We especially hope to include scholars from economically disadvantaged EU countries and resource-constrained institutions to take part in the London and Dortmund events. Similarly, the Mohali event is also designed to be more accessible for Asian and other Global South scholars, reducing visa-related barriers and travel expenses.
By engaging with members of ongoing housing struggles (see image 3), we want to centre their voices and experiences from outside academia. To increase accessibility, we have included travel support for underfunded scholars and mentorship programs tailored to them. To make participation feasible for those unable to travel, we have designed accessible hybrid formats that enable remote engagement throughout the event series. We will use live streaming, real-time digital participation, and interactive virtual discussion spaces. Additionally, all sessions will be recorded and uploaded to our project website, creating an open-access knowledge repository that can extend the impact of these discussions.
Our main aim is to produce knowledge ‘about’ and ‘from’ geographies that remain underrepresented in urban studies. The seminar series consolidates intellectual deliberations as well as frustrations of scholars actively engaged in activist work within their local contexts (see other team members). In relation to understanding urban inhabitations these conversations reinforced how dominant Western theoretical frameworks often fail to adequately capture the lived realities of the communities that we work with. Thus we, as a team of academic precariats (Butcher et al., 2025) – early-career researchers (ECRs), those on casual and fixed-term contracts, independent scholars, and those with career breaks – working in resource- constrained settings and theorising in languages other than English, face many of the same barriers that we critique in our scholarship. Further, despite producing critical, justice-oriented scholarship, many of these scholars remain on the periphery of mainstream urban studies, with limited access to international academic spaces.
This realisation highlighted the urgent need to build a collective of scholars committed to developing ways of theorising and amplifying divergent perspectives on inhabitation. While we have planned events based on the presence and accessibility of our co-applicants and mentors, these locations also hold significance in re-shaping global urban and housing debates in London, Mohali and Dortmund. In countries central to colonisation and capitalist extraction histories, London and Dortmund offer critical sites to interrogate the legacies of empire, past and ongoing colonial projects, racial discrimination, and housing injustices. However, they also serve as a networking, learning and career advancement opportunities for ECRs and URSs who may otherwise struggle to access international academic spaces.
London, as a global city, sits at the intersection of multiple crises, rising housing struggles, an escalating cost of living, energy insecurity, and deepening inequalities disproportionately impacting migrants, refugees, and racialised communities. Hence, it serves as a critical space for our seminar to interrogate how neoliberal governance, racial capitalism, and housing precarity shape contemporary urban struggles. While Dortmund, a former industrial hub, has undergone significant demographic and spatial transformations, from population decline to re-urbanisation post-2000. With a long history of migration, a majority-renter population, and a governance landscape shaped by various integration policies, the city provides a critical site for examining the intersections of housing, migration, and discrimination in the urban context. Mohali, a rapidly urbanising Tier-2 city in India, shifts focus away from metropolitan academic centres to locations experiencing some of the most intense urban transformations in the Global South. These locations provide a crucial space to engage with scholars, practitioners and activists working to de-centre theories of inhabitation in the Global South, Global North, ‘souths’ of the Global North, and the ‘norths’ of the Global South.
Call for scholars
Consisting of a host of activities – such as keynote lectures, writing and publishing sessions, field engagements, drafting a special issue for an international urban studies journal and presentations of papers from ECRs and URSs, this seminar series is aimed at achieving three cross-cutting impacts:
- De-centering academic knowledge production.
- Mentoring Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and Under-represented Scholars (URSs) for advancement of scholarship.
- Forwarding urban justice through scholar-activist co-productions.
Three hybrid events are planned across three diverse cities, London (UK), Mohali (India), and Dortmund (Germany), each carefully chosen for their ability to shift debates on housing and urban inhabitation.
We are inviting up to 15 scholars (Early Career Researchers and Underrepresented Scholars) to join this project, which will lead to the production of a special issue in an international urban studies journal. The selected scholars will participate in all three events of the seminar series, which will be conducted in-person, online, or hybrid formats to ensure full participation.
The seminar series is designed to support the development of full article drafts, with each event building on the previous one. Along the way, additional outputs such as blog posts, digital recordings, and the formation of a scholarly network will be produced.
Limited funding will be available to support participation in all three events. We aim to host most scholars in India, where the most intensive writing and mentoring sessions will be held through a residential programme.
Participants are expected to commit to the timeline for draft development and submission throughout the duration of the project.
(Credit: Team Saathi)
Event 1: Global epistemes of non-dominant urban inhabitation (hybrid inaugural seminar)
January 14–16, 2025 | The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, London
The selection of participants to this workshop will be made based on the 500 words abstract submission by Friday 19 September 2025 as a part of the application process (see more information below).
The hybrid inaugural seminar launches the seminar series and initiates planning for a special issue titled ‘Geographies of Non-Dominant Inhabitation: Deviations, Subversions, and Aspirations’. The 3-day program includes:
Keynote lectures
- A DPU Dialogues in Development session
- Presentations by 12–15 ECRs and URSs
- Mentoring session by Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay
- Discussion and planning for the special issue
- A local engagement session with London based activists to understand how ‘global’ cities like London grapple with questions of housing negligence, violence, and inequality.
Limited travel bursaries will be offered to support ECRs and URSs to attend this workshop and encourage them to widen their academic networks through in-person presence.
Event 2: ECR mentoring and academic publishing (residential workshop and hybrid conference)
April 13–17, 2026 | Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, India
Participants (10–15) will submit full paper drafts by 15 March 2026 and receive detailed feedback during the workshop in Mohali.
The second seminar in India will focus on intensive mentoring over three days and a hybrid conference on the remaining two days. The 5 days programme includes:
- Keynotes lectures
- Writing workshops on theoretical positionings, ethics, and non-Western epistemologies
- One-on-one writing surgeries with a senior scholar
- Engagement with India-based activists, community members to co-develop principles for scholar-activist collaborations
- Discussion on the intersections between caste and housing struggles led by Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay
- Two-day hybrid conference titled ‘Emerging Geographies of Non-Dominant Inhabitation: writing and thinking inhabitation differently’
Selected participants will receive full financial assistance, covering airfare, visa costs, accommodation, and meals.
Event 3: Building the non-dominant inhabitation collective: future directions (hybrid roundtable)
September 23–25, 2026 | TU Dortmund University, TU Dortmund, Germany
Final versions of the paper for the special issue are to be submitted by Friday 4 September 2026.
The final seminar will focus on alliance-building beyond academia, forming a Non-Dominant Inhabitation Collective. The programme includes:
- A panel discussion about migrant-led placemaking in the Ruhr area
- Activist-scholar dialogues reflecting whose voices are amplified or erased, how knowledge is legitimised or delegitimised, and the role of grassroots movements in shaping alternative epistemologies (incl. field trip)
- A grant-writing webinar for ECRs and URSs
- Keynote address
- Finalising special issue contributions
The event will culminate in the development and refinement of contributions for the forthcoming special issue. Further, it will explore how scholar-activist alliances might shift policy conversations and institutional frameworks.
Application process
We invite proposals for our seminar series. We especially welcome proposals from early-career and underrepresented scholars working in and on geographies that are under-represented in urban studies. This seminar is designed to support scholars through mentorship, dialogue and collective reflection. Selected participants will have the opportunity to present their work, receive feedback from senior scholars, and contribute to a forthcoming special issue in Urban Studies.
We strongly encourage applicants who are able to commit to participating in all three events, whether in person or online, as the seminar series is designed as a year-long collaborative and co-working journey. Our aim is to build sustained relationships and collective scholarship.
To apply, please submit a 500-word abstract outlining your proposed presentation and 2-3 visual representations of your work (images, maps, visual archives) by Friday, 19 September 2025, through this online submission link.
In case of queries, please contact p.banerjee@ucl.ac.uk; ishita.chatterjee@jgu.edu.in; or raffael.beier@tu-dortmund.de
Bibliography
Anjaria, J. S., & McFarlane, C. (2011). Urban navigations: Politics, space and the city in South Asia. Routledge.
Banerjee, P. (2023a). Making‐home from below: Domesticating footpath and resisting “homelessness” in Mumbai. Antipode, 55(1), 5-26.
Banerjee, P. (2023b). Abandon the slum? Toward an alternative recognition of urban informal dwelling. Journal of Urban History, 49(3), 600-614.
Bayat, A. (2012). Un-civil society: The politics of the ‘informal people’. In International handbook on informal governance (pp. 146-161). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Beier, R. (2023a). Ordinary neighbourhoods. Planning Theory, 22(1), 106-122.
Beier, R. (2023b). Why low-income people leave state housing in South Africa: Progress, failure or temporary setback? Environment and Urbanization, 35(1), 111-130.
Brenner, N., & Schmid, C. (2015). Towards a new epistemology of the urban? City, 19(2/3), 151-182.
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Escobar, A. (2019). Habitability and design: Radical interdependence and the re-earthing of cities. Geoforum, 101, 132-140.
Handel, A. (2019). What’s in a home? Toward a critical theory of housing/dwelling. EPC: Politics and Space, 37(6), 1045-1062.
Lancione, M. (2020). Radical housing: On the politics of dwelling as difference. International Journal of Housing Policy, 20(2), 273-289.
Lees, L., Shin, H. B., & López Morales, E. (2016). Planetary gentrification. Polity Press.