On context

Abstract

In this paper, I seek to extend the debate on assemblage and critical urbanism by both responding to Brenner et al .'s critique of my earlier paper, 'Assemblage and Critical Urbanism’, and by attempting to prompt further questions and debate. I reflect on three issues that Brenner et al . discuss: the role of ontology in assemblage thinking; the relations between assemblage and political economy; and the approach assemblage brings to questions of the 'context of contexts’. I conclude the paper with a note on the generative potential of assemblage thinking.