Holberg Symposium 2012: Göran Therborn: The City and the State

The importance of human urbanity has been highlighted recently by two events, one conceptual and one dramatic. Conceptually, the world has for the first time become predominantly urban. Dramatically, in 2011 urban revolutions returned to the front stage of world politics. Both events pertain to a contemporary understanding of media and democracy, power and participation. What do recent urban developments tell us about the state of democracy and civic participation? Have the new social media fundamentally transformed the parameters, dynamics, and prospects of urban revolutions? Göran Therborn is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has been co-Director of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology at Göteborg Sweden, and of Political Science at Nijmegen, Netherlands. His recent publications include, The World. A Beginner's Guide (2011), Les sociétés d'Europe du XX au XXIe siècle (2009), Inequalities of the World (2006), Between Sex and Power. Family in the World, 1900-2000 (2004). Currently he is working on a global project about Cities of power. He lives in Sweden.