Soundings

Editorial 

The majority of the world's population now live in cities, and in this issue a number of contributors discuss what this means for contemporary politics.

Ash Amin asks what is salvageable from the old idea of the city as the ideal republic, the site of a potential utopian future. Gerry Hassan discusses the innovative Glasgow 2020 project, in which local citizens participated in a project to reimagine the city through stories. Rupa Huq discusses those vast swathes of our cities that are somehow seen as not part of them - the suburbs. David Morley's essay reflects on the different ways that Istanbul is represented and experienced. Branko Milanovic gives a concise account of the different ways that global inequality is measured. Philip Golub and Chalmers Johnson each reflect on American empire. Francisco Domínguez charts the progress of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. Pat Devine addresses other means of resisting the market-dogma view of the world, by putting forward a non-market model of economic planning. Cormac Cullinan argues that western legal systems must move way from an Enlightenment-based view and Stuart Hall talks to Bill Schwarz about the importance of culture to politics.

Contents

The good city Ash Amin
The dreaming city Gerry Hassan
The sound of the suburbs Rupa Huq
Istanbul tales David Morley
Global income inequality Branko Milanovic
A taste of blood in the jungle: revisiting American empire Philip S Golub
The good empire Chalmers Johnson
Understanding Venezuela Francisco Domínguez
The political economy of twenty-first century socialism Pat Devine
Wild law and the challenge of climate change Cormac Cullinan
Vita nullius Anthony Jackson and Nigel Mullan
Poems Sarah Wardle, Priya Surukkai Chabria, John Berger
Reviews Paolo Gerbaudo, Jeff Shantz
Living with difference Stuart Hall
Notes on contributors