Virtual BA-course: Great transformations in Post-industrial Cities: super-diversity and social innovation

The Hungarian-Austrian social scientist Karl Polanyi characterized as “Great Transformation” (1944) the deep social change of the 19th and 20th century towards industrial capitalism and nation states with corresponding tensions between market and state regulation, commodification and social norms and values, unleashed economy and participatory democracy. In the 21st century, we observe deep restructuration and social change in all formerly industrial cities. These great transformations refer to legal and regulative frameworks, to social diversity and coherence, to cultural and cognitive mappings in arts and literature as well as to migrations and the use of space. Currently, climate change, digitalization, biotechnologies, transnationalization and pandemic-fueled restructuring of home and office as well as other social innovations boost the socio-ecological transformations in post-industrial cities. This course offered an interdisciplinary overview of basic societal changes in big post-industrial cities. It was embedded in the efforts of the UNIC-network of eight post-industrial cities (Bilbao, Bochum, Cork, Istanbul, Liège, Oulu, Rotterdam, Zagreb) to strengthen common teaching and research activities and to boost mobility and inclusion of students and fellows between the participating universities. This course was composed by inputs of scholars from different scientific disciplines of the UNIC universities. Participants of the course had the chance to deepen their knowledge concerning the related topic based on readings and discussions. Smaller working groups produced specific outputs like papers, presentations or videos.