The Right to Consume: Human Rights, Protest, and Commodities in the Built Environment

A full report of Right to Consume: Human Rights, Protest, and Commodities in the Built Environment can be found here.

The year 2020 was defined by global urban protests for human rights. While highlighting the rise of inequality and democratic backsliding, research on these demonstrations often overlooked the contemporary role of commodities and consumer spaces with these urban movements. From public protests in malls to burning of retail corridors, contemporary demonstrations and urban consumption are increasingly in lockstep with one another. With the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative (HMUI) grant, I aim to document and delineate the negotiation of protest movements, spaces of consumption, and role of commodities in the built environment. The research will focus on three cities: Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Philadelphia. Each case study will highlight how civic demonstrations engage with urban spaces planned for consumption.

Researcher: Steven Gu