The City Into Theory: Theory in Toronto

Abstract

As Teresa Enright states in the introduction to this interventions forum, Kohn’s insightful book ‘makes explicit the grounds of a political economic critique of urban inequality’ (p. 1) and ‘brings philosophical inquiry to the pragmatic questions of planning, policymaking and politics’ (p. 2). In this final critical segment of our forum, I will discuss how Kohn’s book specifically works as a theoretical contribution to ongoing debates in urban theory in Toronto where the author lives and works. So, while Enright notes that Kohn ‘recentres the city as a key site for the diagnosis of historical conditions, for mapping analytical categories, for staging struggle and for envisioning better futures’ (p. 2), I ask more pointedly: what has urban theory done for Toronto lately, and how does Kohn fit into this conversation?

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