Resumen de Activists in the Making: Urban Movements,Political Processes and the Creationof Political Subjects
A constant and largely unquestioned characteristic of contemporary studies of urbanmovements is their conception of the activist ‘subject’— the reflective agent or ‘doer’whoparticipates in, and shapes, urban movements. Whereas it has become increasinglycommon in other scholarly research to regard the subject as a contingent, context-specificoutcome or creation, studies of urban movements have not been swayed. The latter, evenas they proceed to conceptualize more and more of the urban scene in terms of malleable‘processes’ rather than inert ‘structures’, have continued to regard the makeup of theactivist subject as universal and invariable. This article, in contrast, proposes andexplores a different approach. Through a review of the recent urban movementsliterature, a focused consideration of potentially complementary literatures, and ademonstrative case study, this article aims to show that it is possible and indeedworthwhile to examine how political subjects are contingently remade both prior to,and through, their active participation in contentious urban politics. The remaking ofpolitical subjects, it concludes, is often central to the formation and achievements ofurban movements. Devoting increased attention to this process — alongside other,already-recognized political processes — could, therefore, promote a richer, morecomplex understanding of activism and the ever-changing city.
