La construction des discours sur la ville, entre production urbaine et subalternité interne
Résumé
In this paper, I explore the articulation between discursive constructions related to a subalternization of subjects internal to society and the production of contemporary metropolises. My analysis of a condition of "metropolitan subalternity", resulting from my doctoral research, fits into postcolonial and subaltern studies. In the process of hegemonic production of the city, the dominant groups use popular practices as an argument of delegitimization of the poor. Since the narrative is an essential instrument of what I have called "globalised urban planning", it is through this that the discourse on the city spreads and takes its delegitimizing force. I analyse this urban version of an orientalist type of domination, and how this universal discourse faces the practices and appropriations "from below" by subaltern groups. The "subaltern condition" reveals an exogenous identity assignment attributed to a minority by a dominant majority. However, the orientalist theory argues that it is precisely the existence of this minority that challenges the universalism of the dominant condition. In this sense, the practices of subaltern groups can be read as signs of a "postcolonial" production of the city, which puts pressure on the dominant town planning.
Dans cet article, j'explore l'articulation entre des constructions discursives relevant d'une subalternisation de sujets internes à la société et la production des métropoles contemporaines. Mon analyse d'une condition de « subalternité métropolitaine », issue de mes recherches de doctorat, s'insère dans la réflexion des études postcoloniales et subalternes. Dans le processus de production hégémonique de la ville, les pratiques populaires sont utilisées par les groupes dominants comme argument de délégitimation des populations pauvres. Le récit étant l'un des instruments indispensables de ce que j'ai appelé « urbanisme de la globalisation », c'est à travers celui-ci que le discours sur la ville se propage et prend sa force délégitimante. J'analyse cette version urbaine d'une domination de type orientaliste, et comment ce discours, qui se veut universel, se heurte aux pratiques et aux appropriations « par le bas » des groupes subalternes. La « condition subalterne » révèle une assignation identitaire exogène, attribuée à une minorité par une majorité dominante. Cependant, l'optique orientaliste nous apprend que c'est justement l'existence de cette minorité qui remet en cause l'universalisme de la condition dominante. Dans ce sens, les pratiques des groupes subalternes peuvent être lues comme les signes d'une production « postcoloniale » de la ville, qui fait pression sur l'urbanisme dominant. Abstract In this paper, I explore the articulation between discursive constructions related to a subalternization of subjects internal to society and the production of contemporary metropolises. My analysis of a condition of "metropolitan subalternity", resulting from my doctoral research, fits into postcolonial and subaltern studies. In the process of hegemonic production of the city, the dominant groups use popular practices as an argument of delegitimization of the poor. Since the narrative is an essential instrument of what I have called "globalised urban planning", it is through this that the discourse on the city spreads and takes its delegitimizing force. I analyse this urban version of an orientalist type of domination, and how this universal discourse faces the practices and appropriations "from below" by subaltern groups. The "subaltern condition" reveals an exogenous identity assignment attributed to a minority by a dominant majority. However, the orientalist theory argues that it is precisely the existence of this minority that challenges the universalism of the dominant condition. In this sense, the practices of subaltern groups can be read as signs of a "postcolonial" production of the city, which puts pressure on the dominant town planning.