Insurgency and Juxtacity in the Age of Urban Divides Faranak Miraftab 1 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract This commentary concerns juxtapositions of varied spaces of citizen-authority negoti- ation within formal and informal politics. I build on the concept of juxtacity, as a productive articulation of contradictory realities and spaces of citizenship and authority, to reveal the co-constitutive and the non-binary spaces of action in insurgent move- ments. Focusing on a particular articulation of citizenship and authority that I concep- tualize relationally as invited and invented spaces of citizens’ action, I highlight how contrasting spaces of politics can work co-constitutively. I ground my reflections in practices of subordinate groups as key actors in southern urbanism, namely South Africa’s township struggles for dignified sanitation (Social Justice Coalition, SJC, and Ses’khona movement), and Brazil’s homeless workers struggles for housing and land (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto, MTST). In their citizen-authority negotia- tion, these movements are agile, moving across invited and invented spaces as neces- sary to advance their struggle. Keywords Southern urbanism . Southern turn to planning theory . Insurgent movements . Sanitation and housing justice . South Africa . Brazil In this brief commentary, I wish to build on the theoretical and analytical value of the concept of juxtacity, as a productive articulation of contradictory realities and spaces, in particular with respect to citizenship and authority. Focusing on a particular articulation of citizenship and authority that I have theorized relationally as invited and invented spaces of citizens’ action, 1 I engage with the concept of juxtacity to highlight the co- constitutive relationships of these oppositional spaces. In my prior work, I have defined the distinction between these spaces of citizenship practices and articulated the non- binary relationship through which they should be understood. Reflecting on the practices of the subordinate groups, I note that insurgent movements rarely limit their practices to one or the other space. They are agile, moving across invited and invented Urban Forum https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-020-09401-9 1 See Miraftab 2004, 2009 and 2018. * Faranak Miraftab faranak@illinois.edu 1 University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA