Urban Salon: "Urban Power: Democracy and Inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg Book Talk"

Join us for a book discussion featuring Benjamin Bradlow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University. His new book, Urban Power: Democracy & Inequality in São Paulo & Johannesburg, explores why some cities are more effective than others at reducing inequalities in the built environment. Bradlow examines the effectiveness of urban governance in two “megacities” in young democracies: São Paulo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Both cities came out of periods of authoritarian rule with similarly high inequalities and similar policy priorities to lower them. And yet São Paulo has been far more successful than Johannesburg in improving access to basic urban goods.

Mimi Sheller, Dean of The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Marcus Walton, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boston University, will serve as discussants, joining Professor Bradlow’s talk on the major themes in his new book.

This event is a collaboration between the Initiative on Cities and the Boston Urban Salon, an urban seminar series of Boston area urban experts affiliated with universities and institutes in the area.