James Holston
1951
American anthropologist who studied Brasília and the peripheries of São Paulo to understand what it means to be a citizen of a city.
His critique of Brasília is a classic: an entire city designed from scratch, with the best modern intentions, which eliminated the street as a place of encounter and ended up segregating those who built it into satellite towns never shown on the plan.
From there he moved to the peripheries of São Paulo and found the opposite: residents who build their houses without permits, organise, litigate and eventually obtain services and title deeds. He called that insurgent citizenship: rights that are not granted from above but won by building.
On James Holston in this archive
- Public space
James Holston: Insurgent Citizenship and Urban Justice
James Holston explores insurgent citizenship in the Global South, focusing on marginalized urban populations'…
James Holston 3 min read - Public space
Insurgent Citizenship Transforming Cities From The Ground Up
The concept of **“insurgent citizenship,”** developed by James Holston, refers to the ways in which urban…
Manuel Castells 3 min read
