CONTRIBUTION TO A CRITICAL THEORY OF URBAN ISSUE IN THE PERIPHERY OF CAPITALISM

Professor Erminia MARICATO, Ph.D.

In the following lines I aim at arguing in favor of the importance of building a critical theory on the capitalist urbanization process in peripheral countries. In doing so, we are faced with two main challenges, which are: (a) identifying the specific features of peripheral capitalism or, more specifically, semi-peripheral capitalism, in the case of Brazil and South Africa; and (b) identifying the specific features of the production of the built environment, more specifically, the urban built environment, under these conditions.