After several fairly dull months grinding away back in Johannesburg, it is great to be back in London for a number of professional engagements, first among which was a workshop on cities as democratic frontiers in an authoritarian age, organised jointly by colleagues from Kings College, LSE, Queen Mary and the University of Liverpool universities. From 24-26 June, an invited group of scholars in political science, legal and urban studies engaged the democratic potential and pitfalls of cities amidst democratic backsliding and the rise of right-wing populism and authoritarianism. I presented work in progress on substantive public-law justifications for urban autonomy. I learnt a lot and hope to be doing more work on this theme, also in collaboration with this great group of scholars.
Marius Pieterse 