Urbaria Guest Lectures is a series of lectures from renowned international urban researchers visiting the University of Helsinki. Do you have a potential speaker in mind for the lecture series? Please get in touch if you are planning to host an urban studies expert in 2025 at the University of Helsinki.
Miguel Martínez is Professor of Urban Sociology at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF), Uppsala University. With a theoretical background combining insights from political science, urban planning, social geography and Marxist political economy, Martínez’s work is influenced by participatory action research (PAR) methodologies. His research explores topics from urban activism, urban planning, housing, social movements and participatory methods to self-management, autonomy, citizen participation, activist research, democracy, labour, and migrations. The central focus of Miguel’s research is the squatting movement, and he is the author of Squatters in the Capitalist City: Housing, Justice, and Urban Politics (2020, Routledge).
Professor Martínez began his lecture by introducing the process behind the creation of his 37-chapter Handbook on Urban Sociology. His goal was to address urban studies with a focus on the social aspects, while not necessarily approaching the topic from a strictly sociological perspective. Instead, he wanted researchers from diverse disciplines and geographical contexts to collaborate, analyzing the urban from various scientific viewpoints. Each discipline offers its unique perspective on the subject, and only by combining them could the Handbook convey a kaleidoscopic view to the reader.
In addition to the book's transdisciplinary approach, Martínez was committed to gender equity when selecting contributors. He also encouraged the participation of junior researchers rather than reserving the opportunity for senior professors. However, he honestly admitted that this was only partly his decision. Many well-known professors he approached either declined the invitation or failed to respond to his emails. Martínez attributes this disappointing outcome to the declining credibility of social sciences, which has led to a growing divide between disciplines such as sociology, architecture, and urban planning.
Martínez then took a moment to discuss the Chicago School’s approach to urban studies, which marked a turning point in how urban studies were understood. The Chicago School emphasized the crucial role of sociology in urban planning and the need for collaboration between social scientists and architects to make cities more livable. Over the past decades, however, the relationship between sociology and architecture has shifted. Architecture has increasingly focused on the aesthetic and functional aspects of city planning, often neglecting the social impacts of spatial arrangements. Meanwhile, sociologists have concentrated on investigating social issues related to the urban environment. Although recent trends suggest a renewed interest in interdisciplinary collaboration, a significant shift in the mindset of experts is still needed.
Going back to his Handbook, Professor Martínez explained that the first step in approaching the subject is to question the definition of the "social." The social dimension, rooted in the growth of the working class, is intricately tied to the problems of this group. The social often overlaps with other dimensions—cultural, economic, and political—making it crucial to distinguish what is social from what is not. Criticizing Lefebvre's claim that «everything is urban», Martínez argues «Not everything is urban, and not everything is social». Defining concepts and establishing clear boundaries is vital for understanding this complex discipline. Martina Löw’s sociology of space highlights the connection between the production and reproduction of physical structures, spatial practices, and social behaviors. Additionally, social aspects are inherently connected to nature, and history, but cannot be reduced to these dimensions alone. Sociology must also focus on representations, political visions, the production of knowledge, social issues, societal structures and hierarchies.
Finally, Martínez emphasized that sociology is not just about studying and collecting knowledge; it is also about transforming society and making an impact. Before becoming an academic, he was an activist with a Marxist background, and his primary goal remains to put knowledge at the service of societal change. Reflecting on the implications of one's knowledge is a fundamental part of activism. It means questioning oneself: «To whom do I distribute the results of my research? Who am I targeting? Is it policymakers? Activists? Elites? And where do I position myself? ». Academic research on its own is not enough to contribute to the transformation of people's lives in the city. Scientific journals address a narrow, highly educated social group but fail to have significant political consequences. For this reason, open-access articles and non-sectorial magazines can help spread ideas, preventing them from stagnating in academia.
A critical approach is also necessary to question the framing used to understand phenomena and to examine what is relevant—and what is not—for analysis. Positivism cannot be applied to social studies, which require constant questioning of cultural values, mental frameworks, and structures constituting knowledge. Framing is a subjective process that requires a deep understanding of the context to avoid superficial or biased analyses. Even if the word "critical" does not appear in the title, this concept is the common thread linking all the chapters of the Handbook.