The Feminist Park Podcast: Designing for Liberation!

Circular Cities: Mapping Urban Sustainability Strategies Worldwide
Season 2 Episode:28. November 03, 2026
Provides frameworks for circular economy implementation in cities, informing our zero-waste programming and resource-sharing systems while critiquing "bullshit" sustainability rhetoric.
Summary: Maps circular city archetypes while warning that much sustainability literature is "scholarly bullshit" (buzzwords without impact).Connection: Implements actual circular practices like repair cafes and rainwater harvesting, grounded in degrowth principles rather than trend-chasing rhetoric.
Key Takeaways: • Circular city strategies are locally tailored, requiring context-specific approaches• Four archetypes of circular cities based on sectoral scope and scale• Identifying archetypes helps cities learn from similar circular transitions• Up to 50% of sustainability research may be "scholarly bullshit" lacking real insight• Metric-driven academia rewards buzzwords over original thinking and real-world impact• Circular economy implementation must prioritize actual transformation over rhetorical trends
Keywords: Circular city, circular economy, urban sustainability, systematic review.
Source: What do circular cities do? Insights from 26 case studies, Mugur Schuppler, Christina Bidmon, Mark Roelfsema, et al.
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Green Politics Across Borders: Immigrant Political Socialization
Season 2 Episode:27. October 27, 2026
Examines how immigrant political identities shape progressive politics engagement, informing our understanding of building inclusive environmental movements that resonate across diverse political socialization.
Summary: Analyzes how "ideological shadows" from home countries influence immigrants' support for Green parties and environmental movements.Connection: Practices "political humility" by connecting environmentalism to social justice and anti-colonial struggles rather than elite Western frameworks.
Key Takeaways: • Immigrants' political behavior shaped by ideological contexts in home countries• Green movements must adapt to be inclusive of diverse political traditions• Political socialization creates "ideological shadows" affecting voting patterns• Progressive politics must build bridges across varied political backgrounds• Environmental movements need cultural humility to engage immigrant communities
Keywords: Political socialization, immigrant voting, Green parties, progressive politics.
Source: Political socialization and immigrants’ support for progressive politics: the case of green parties, Korinna O. Lindemann and António Valentim
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Parks as Belonging: Intersectional Qualitative Study in Toronto
Season 2 Episode:26. October 20, 2026
Reveals how urban parks contribute to sense of belonging for diverse communities, informing our commitment to accommodating varied cultural and social practices.
Summary: Shows that belonging requires cultural recognition by feeling welcomed and seeing one's culture reflected in the space and its rules.Connection: Avoids imposing white, Western leisure norms; instead, provides flexible spaces for music, communal cooking, and diverse cultural celebrations.
Key Takeaways: • Belonging in parks is complex relational experience shaped by race and gender• Parks must accommodate cultural and social practices of marginalized communities• Sense of belonging requires more than physical access by it requires cultural recognition• Racialized communities use parks differently based on cultural traditions• Inclusive parks facilitate diverse forms of sociality and cultural expression
Keywords: Urban parks, belonging, intersectionality, Toronto, qualitative research.
Source: Urban parks as places for belonging: An intersectional qualitative study in Toronto, Nadha Hassen, Ayan Mohamed, Kobisha Rajeswaran, et al.
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Reclaiming the Streets: Copenhagen's Parking Conversion Revolution
Season 2 Episode:25. October 13, 2026
Documents well-being improvements from converting parking to green space, providing evidence that reclaiming streets from cars enhances mental health and social connection.
Summary: Shows that converting parking to pedestrian zones in Copenhagen significantly improved residents' happiness and social engagement.Connection: Advocates for car-free zones surrounding the parks, recognizing that women's mental health depends on walkable, social urban environments.
Key Takeaways: • Converting parking spaces to green areas significantly improves subjective well-being• Reclaiming street space from cars enhances urban mental health• Car-free designs strengthen social connection and community ties• Quality of life increases when pedestrian needs are prioritized over vehicles• Street space reallocation demonstrates value of human-centered urban design
Keywords: Copenhagen, parking conversion, quality of life, car ownership, well-being.
Source: Urban quality of life and the car: A study of parking space conversion in Copenhagen, Kostas Mouratidis, Hans Skov-Petersen, and Trine Agervig Carstensen
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

“¡Abre la puerta, Maricarmen!”: Who Gets to Live in Madrid? & Leslie Kerns Anti-Gentrification Book

REST IN POWER MARICARMEN! 🕊️ (1938 - October 7, 2026)

What happens when a home becomes more valuable than the person who has lived there for 71 years?

In this episode, we examine the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen “Maricarmen” Abascal from her Madrid home after repeated attempts to remove her. On 23 September 2026, police finally entered the apartment she had rented since 1956. Her story sparked mass protests and forced housing, investment-fund, and eviction policies back into public debate.

The image of police standing outside the door “¡Abre la puerta, Maricarmen!” makes visible what housing statistics often conceal: displacement is not only a change of address. It is the loss of memory, routine, community, safety, and belonging. The case also shows that eviction is not always an unavoidable outcome. Decisions by landlords, courts, governments, and investors shape who is allowed to remain in the city.

This is where Leslie Kern’s Gentrification Is Inevitable and Other Lies becomes essential. Kern challenges the idea that gentrification is a natural or unstoppable process. She argues that it is produced through political decisions, investment, planning, property markets, policing, and unequal access to power. Just as importantly, she asks us to understand displacement as something lived through the body and emotions—not merely measured through rent prices or migration statistics.

Maricarmen’s case is not identical to neighbourhood-wide gentrification. It is the story of one long-term tenant confronting a property company. But the pattern is connected: housing is treated as an asset before it is treated as a home, while age, vulnerability, and long-term community ties are treated as obstacles to profit. Her eviction represents the louder, more visible form of a quieter process affecting tenants across cities.

From Madrid to Feminist Park

The episode connects Madrid’s housing struggle to the principles of Feminist Park: the belief that cities should be designed around care, safety, accessibility, dignity, and the lived experiences of people who are often ignored in urban decision-making.

Feminist Park’s mission is to create a socially just and inclusive green space, centre marginalized voices, improve safety and accessibility for women, and challenge traditional urban planning through intersectional feminist principles.

Maricarmen’s story expands those principles beyond parks. It asks:

• Who is considered when cities are planned and redeveloped?

• Who gets to remain when land values rise?

• Whose memories and relationships count as part of urban infrastructure?

• Can a city be called successful if older people, women, migrants, families, and low-income residents can no longer afford to live there?

• What would urban design look like if care and belonging mattered as much as investment and growth?

A feminist city is not only one with better lighting, safer paths, or more accessible public space. It is also a city where people can stay, participate, age, rest, organize, and feel at home.

Hope as Action

Kern’s central challenge is to reject the language of inevitability. If displacement is described as unavoidable, responsibility disappears. But the protests following Maricarmen’s eviction demonstrate that public pressure can change political priorities; reports indicate that Madrid’s government responded with proposed measures concerning eviction protections, investment funds, tourist housing, and rental contracts.

This episode asks listeners to look beyond the dramatic moment when a door is opened. The deeper question is what happened before the police arrived: which laws enabled the eviction, who benefited from the property’s rising value, who was consulted, and what alternatives were refused?

Generations Together: Integrating Age-Friendly and Child-Friendly Design
Season 2 Episode:24. October 06, 2026
Demonstrates potential for intergenerational park design that serves children and elders simultaneously, maximizing inclusivity while building cross-generational solidarity.
Summary: Challenges the assumption that age groups need separate facilities, identifying design elements that serve both children and elders.Connection: Designs play areas with seating for elder supervision, supporting women who juggle care responsibilities across multiple generations.
Key Takeaways: • Age-friendly and child-friendly design principles can be successfully integrated• Integrated designs maximize public space utility and inclusivity• Intergenerational approach necessary for truly inclusive urban environments• Shared spaces foster cross-generational understanding and community bonds• Universal design benefits all ages when thoughtfully implemented
Keywords: Age-friendly cities, child-friendly cities, public space, intergenerational integration.
Source: Can age-friendly and child-friendly urban public spaces be integrated? A systematic review and thematic synthesis, Yanhan Liu, Leng Leng Thang, and Ye Zhang
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Feeding the City: Feminist Care Ethics in Urban Food Systems
Season 2 Episode:23. September 29, 2026
Exposes gender inequality in urban food systems, informing our integration of community gardens and food justice programming that redistributes care labor and democratizes food access.
Summary: Reveals a "care gap" where women perform the labor of feeding cities but are excluded from food policy decision-making.Connection: Uses community gardens and shared harvests to redistribute care labor, ensuring men participate in cooking and caregiving activities.
Key Takeaways: • Urban food system governance reveals significant gender "care gap"• Food justice requires democratization of care labor and systemic redistribution• Invisible domestic food labor sustains urban populations yet remains unvalued• Feminist ethics of care framework reveals power imbalances in food systems• Sustainable food transitions must address gendered division of care work
Keywords: Food governance, feminist care ethics, gender inequality, Barcelona, urban food systems.
Source: Who is and who should be caring for urban food systems? A feminist ethics of care perspective on the case of Barcelona by Chiara Bergonzini and Marina Di Masso Tarditti
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

From Parking Lots to Parks: The Mortality Benefits of Green Cities
Season 2 Episode: 22.
Quantifies mortality benefits of converting car infrastructure to green space, providing evidence-based justification for car-free, green-centered urban design.
Summary: Quantifies the life-saving potential of converting parking and roads to green space (improved air quality, reduced heat).Connection: Prioritizes greening in communities facing the highest health burdens and advocates for converting parking space to park extensions.
Key Takeaways: • Converting 50% of car-dedicated space to greenery significantly reduces mortality• Reallocating space from cars to nature improves air quality and climate resilience• Urban parks are critical sustainability infrastructure, not mere amenities• Environmental justice must be core to park management to protect low-income residents• Green space provision directly impacts public health outcomes and life expectancy
Keywords: Berlin, urban parks, socio-economic inequality, climate resilience, systematic review.
Keywords: Green space, mortality assessment, Paris, urban health, car-free cities.
Source: Replacing car-dedicated space with green spaces: an assessment of the mortality benefits in Paris, Léo Moutet, Lucie Adélaïde, Charles Claron, et al.
Source: Review article: Reviewing Berlin’s urban parks, S. Mukherjee, KN, KMN, ER, SH, and BS
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Urban Commons as Citizenship: Participation and Belonging in Bologna
Season 2 Episode:21. September 15, 2026
Models collaborative management of urban commons as pathway to expanded citizenship, demonstrating how co-governance strengthens democratic participation and territorial belonging.
Summary: Bologna’s model shows that commons management allows migrants (excluded from formal citizenship) to practice "urban citizenship."Connection: Treats the park as a commons with management authority given to residents regardless of legal citizenship status, creating pathways to political power.
Key Takeaways: • Collaborative management of urban commons fosters territorial participation• Co-management strengthens democratic participation and urban citizenship• Commons governance creates new frameworks for right to the city• Shared city management empowers diverse residents as active citizens• Urban commons enable forms of belonging beyond traditional citizenship
Keywords: Urban commons, participation, urban citizenship, Bologna, territorialism.
Source: Urban commons as a concept of territorial participation and urban citizenship: Two case studies in Bologna, Italy, Charmain Levy, Marco Alberio, and Rebecca Plachesi
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Intersectional Resilience: Justice at the Interface of Health Systems
Season 2 Episode:20. September 08, 2026
Applies intersectionality theory to understand how overlapping identities create unique vulnerabilities, informing our commitment to addressing structural inequality in park access and programming.
Summary: Uses intersectionality theory to show how standard resilience frameworks fail multiply-marginalized people during crises like COVID-19.Connection: Explicitly addresses intersectional needs with gender-neutral facilities, language access, and programming for racialized queer migrant women.
Key Takeaways: • Overlapping social identities create unique vulnerabilities and barriers to care• Resilience is not just institutional capacity but addressing structural inequality• Health system resilience requires justice at interfaces where systems meet communities• Intersectionality theory reveals how systems fail multiply-marginalized people• Community resilience depends on social justice, not just service provision
Keywords: Intersectionality, health system resilience, community health, social justice.
Source: Justice at the Interface: Advancing Community and Health System Resilience Through Intersectionality Theory, Jen Roux, Neelke Doorn, Saba Hinrichs-Krapels, and Samantha Copeland
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Inclusive Governance: Sharing Power in Green Space Management
Season 2 Episode:19. September 01, 2026
Establishes governance frameworks for inclusive green space management, demonstrating how to move from consultation to shared power with marginalized communities.
Summary: Identifies the need to move from "tokenistic consultation" to "authentic shared governance" where marginalized groups have real decision-making power.Connection: Uses community councils with decision-making authority, offering childcare and compensation for community organizers to ensure participation is accessible.
Key Takeaways: • Inclusive governance requires moving beyond consultation toward shared power• Green spaces must meet social needs of marginalized residents, not just provide amenity• Collaborative "rules-in-use" enable community participation in management• Tokenistic inclusion reproduces exclusion; meaningful governance shares decision-making• Successful inclusion requires institutional flexibility and community capacity-building
Keywords: Inclusive city, governance, urban green space, social inclusion.
Source: Green spaces as places for inclusion: Inclusive governance in six urban contexts, Sara Romero-Muñoz, Víctor Muñoz Sanz, and Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Street Tree Stewards: Citizens Cultivating Urban Biodiversity
Season 2 Episode:18. August 25, 2026
Demonstrates how citizen stewardship increases urban biodiversity while building environmental citizenship, guiding our community-managed green infrastructure.
Summary: Study in Freiburg showing that community-led tree stewardship produces higher biodiversity and a stronger sense of urban citizenship.Connection: Honors women’s deep environmental knowledge by formalizing resident-managed garden plots and providing tool libraries for community stewardship.
Key Takeaways: • Citizen stewardship of street trees significantly increases urban biodiversity• Community-managed green spaces show greater species richness than city-managed ones• Active stewardship fosters stronger sense of urban citizenship and environmental responsibility• Resident-led greening creates more ecologically diverse and resilient landscapes• Empowering citizens as environmental stewards transforms relationship to urban nature
Keywords: Urban biodiversity, street trees, citizen stewardship, species richness, Freiburg.
Source: Citizen stewardship of street tree beds promotes urban biodiversity, Kelly Baldwin Heid et al.
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

The Feminine Gaze: Integrating Care into Territorial Design
Season 2 Episode:17. August 18, 2026
Establishes theoretical foundations for gender-sensitive planning that views territory as relational assemblage shaped by diverse embodied experiences.
Summary: Advocates for transforming urban planning by centering the "feminine gaze" and "empathic design" to support caregiving and rest.Connection: Rejects production-centered logic, instead designing for nursing mothers, elder socialization, and the rest needs of domestic workers.
Key Takeaways: • Urban planning must adopt a "feminine gaze" integrating care and reproductive labor• Territory should be viewed as relational assemblage shaped by diverse bodies• Empathic design models recognize emotional and care dimensions of space• Gender-sensitive planning challenges androcentric urban development• Territorial management must account for social reproduction and care work
Keywords: Gender, urbanism, territorialism, care, project design.
Source: Scienze del Territorio, Vol 11, No 2: Genere e progetto dei luoghi (Gender and the Project of Places) by Edited by Chiara Belingardi and Daniela Poli
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Can We Live With Men? Ethics After Patriarchal Violence
Season 2 Episode:16. August 11, 2026
Grapples with fundamental questions of safety and coexistence after gender violence, informing our design of spaces that protect women while imagining transformed gender relations.
Summary: Philosophical inquiry into systemic gender violence and the "gray zones" of submission, asking how to create conditions for non-violent relationships.Connection: Prioritizes safety through lighting and community presence, while also hosting education programs for men on feminist ethics and non-violent masculinity.
Key Takeaways: • Achieving gender equality requires radical reimagining of intimate ethics• Patriarchal violence demands interrogation of whether coexistence is possible• Transforming "gray zones" of submission in everyday life is essential• #MeToo movement reveals systemic nature of gender violence• Safety requires both protection from current violence and transformation of gender norms
Keywords: Heterosexuality, patriarchy, submission, #MeToo, ethics.
Source: Vivre avec les hommes (Living with Men), Manon Garcia
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Feminist Commons: Care, Autonomy, and Radical Alternatives
Season 2 Episode:15. August 04, 2026
Provides models of feminist urban commons in Montevideo and Rome that prioritize care and mutual aid, demonstrating how to sustain collective spaces while resisting institutional co-optation.
Summary: Analyzes Las Pioneras (Montevideo) and Lucha y Siesta (Rome) as spaces managed collectively to provide childcare and support services.Connection: Functions as a commons with horizontal decision-making, providing childcare, community gardens, and meeting areas for mutual aid groups.
Key Takeaways: • Feminist commons prioritize care over capital accumulation• Social reproduction and mutual aid provide essential services outside market and state• Commons sustainability requires institutional support paired with group autonomy• Feminist urban commons create radical alternatives to the neoliberal city• Collective space management fosters political solidarity and community resilience
Keywords: Feminist commons, ethics of care, urbanism, commoning, social reproduction.
Source: Care and Feminist Urban Commons: The Cases of Las Pioneras in Montevideo and Lucha y Siesta in Rome, Charmain Levy and Chiara Belingardi
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Dedicated to the victims of the July 25, 2026 Pride attack in Berlin's Tiergarten, and to the LGBTQIA+ community grieving alongside us.

Why did a car and machete attack happen in a park, during Pride, in the heart of Berlin? In this episode of The Feminist Park, we break down why the geography of the July 25 Christopher Street Day attack was never incidental, using feminist geography, spatial justice, and radicalization research to explain how public space becomes a target.

We connect this to our core research: parks and public space are never neutral ground. Studies on gendered and queer safety in green space show that visibility itself, the very thing Pride claims for one day a year, is what draws targeting. Reclaiming a central Berlin park for Pride was an act of spatial justice decades in the making. That is exactly what was attacked.

This episode covers: feminist and queer geography, the psychology and "affective scaffolding" of radicalization, why inclusive public space design is a safety issue and not a symbolic one, and what solidarity looks like right now.

Concepts from the :

1. Situated Affectivity (the core theory)

The premise is that emotions aren't just internal, private mental states. They're shaped, sustained, and sometime manufactured by the environment around a person. A few key mechanisms:

• Affective scaffolding: External tools or structures that prop up an emotional state, the way a stress ball scaffolds calm, or a ritual scaffolds grief. Extremist groups build scaffolds deliberately: propaganda, music, symbols, group chants.
• Mind invasion (affective mind shaping): Environments don't just support emotions you already have, they actively reach in and install new ones, often without the person realizing it's happening.
• Affective arrangements: A "constellation" of people, objects, spaces, and language that work together to produce and reinforce a feeling.
• Self-stimulatory loops of affectivity (SSLA): Feedback loops where a person keeps returning to the same resource (a forum, a video series, a ritual).

2. How radicalization actually works, emotionally

The source pushes back on the common assumption that hate and anger are the main drivers. It argues positive emotions do more recruiting work: belonging, pride, love, purpose. Two specific mechanisms.

3. Structural "push" factors

Radicalization isn't purely psychological, it's also a response to real social conditions:

• Social trauma and injustice: systemic discrimination creates a "seeking" phase where people become receptive to ideologies that promise justice or revenge.
• Rank abuse: those with social power ("center") habitually ignore the grievances of those without it ("margins"), which builds pressure toward vengeance-seeking ideologies.
• Phenomenology of whiteness: describes how non-white bodies are made hyper-visible and "stopped" in a white-dominated social world, a form of chronic social trauma.

4. Case studies as illustrations

• Brenton Tarrant (Christchurch)
• The *SIS child defector case
• Pakistan's "Ziaism"

5. Anti-queer extremism specifically

This is the part most relevant to your episode. The source describes a "dual threat": queer communities face rising violence from both far-right anti-gender movements and Islamist extremism that frames Pride as Western decadence. Critically, it names reciprocal radicalization, where these two ideologically opposed movements end up reinforcing each other, with the far-right sometimes performing "instrumental empathy" for queer people specifically to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment, rather than out of genuine solidarity.

Sources:

• Foregrounding Affectivity in the Pathways to Extremism. Authors: Saad Shaheed and Hina Haq.
• Radicalization Through the Lens of Situated Affectivity. Authors: Hina Haq, Saad Shaheed, and Achim Stephan.
• Radicalization from a societal perspective. Authors: Delaram Shafieioun and Hina Haq.
• THE AFFECTIVE ARCHITECTURE OF EXTREMISM: Understanding Extremism through Situated Affectivity. Author: Hina Haq.

Bad Bunny and The Feminist Park: Trojan Horse of Resistance?

What does it mean when activism becomes aesthetic, and how do we tell the difference between solidarity and strategy?

In this episode of Un/Seen Spaces: The Feminist Park Podcast - Designing for Liberation, we explore the cultural power and deep contradictions of Bad Bunny, one of the world’s most influential Latin music artists. Drawing on academic research on reggaeton, trap, gender performativity, and social critique, this conversation examines how Bad Bunny’s work can be read through a “double discourse”: on the one hand, he publicly supports feminism and LGBTQ+ rights; on the other, some of his lyrics have been criticized for sexism, misogyny, and the objectification of women.

We also look at how his music videos often carry the strongest social critique, using cinematic references and visual storytelling to challenge double standards that the lyrics alone may not fully confront. At the same time, the episode raises a bigger question about whether visible activism in global pop culture represents genuine transgression or a strategic branding of social justice for commercial gain.

This episode is not just about Bad Bunny. It is about how global music industries shape ideas about gender, power, race, sexuality, and resistance. Through a feminist and intersectional lens, we ask what it means when progressive messaging, anti-patriarchal aesthetics, and market success coexist inside the same cultural product.

For listeners of The Feminist Park Podcast, this conversation connects directly to the project’s mission: to examine how public culture, representation, and power shape the spaces we inhabit, and to ask who gets to define liberation, visibility, and belonging.

The research gives Feminist Park a strong example of how symbolic inclusion can coexist with harmful structures. Bad Bunny’s public support for feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, alongside lyrics criticized for sexism, mirrors a broader feminist urbanism problem: spaces and institutions often claim inclusion while still reproducing hierarchy. Liberation has to be measured by practice, not branding. A park, like a song or music video, can look progressive while still reproducing exclusion if the underlying power dynamics stay intact.

The article cluster connects gender, sexuality, race, colonial power, and commercial influence, which fits your project’s mission to understand how systems of domination operate across both space and culture.

Academic Sources:

• Interpretación de “Tití me Preguntó”, Felipe Covarrubias-Melgar, Mariana Martínez-Castrejón, Cristiana Verónica-Gasga
• Media event and Latin performance: Bad Bunny at Super Bowl LX and the symbolic reconfiguration of “America”, J.P. Pérez-Rufí
• “Esta es mi tierra/Esta soy yo”: Teaching US colonialism and Puerto Rican resistance through Bad Bunny, Vanessa Díaz, Petra R. Rivera-Rideau
• Bad Bunny Beyond Borders: Where the Plantation Meets the Platform, Keith Negus
• Bad Bunny’s Transgressive Gender Performativity, Luis Rivera Figueroa
• Bad Bunny Perrea Sola: the gender issue in reggaeton, Laura Álvarez Trigo
• Bad Bunny: masculinities or misogyny? ,Keylor Robles Murillo
• Subversión, postfeminismo y masculinidad en la música de Bad Bunny, Silvia Díaz Fernández
• Bad Bunny y Bach: mitos e imaginarios culturales, Francisco Castillo García
• Sociophonetic convergence of Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Elizabeth Naranjo Hayes
• Bad Bunny: identidad, idioma e intertexto, Víctor Maldonado Santiago
• Sociophonetics and lyrical codemixing of Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Elizabeth Naranjo Hayes
• Discourse and women’s objectification in Bad Bunny’s songs, Fabiana Molina Rojas, with related work by Romina Yris Rivera Bravo and Gessel Massiel Robles Meza
• Sapiencia: Una Revista Para La Academia, Vol. 10, No. 1 (2026), editorial board and assorted articles
• Bad Bunny: A Tale of Artificial Intelligence — Rita H. Pickler
• Nociones de género, música urbana y cultura popular — Sarah Platt

Against Artwashing: Artists in Solidarity with Housing Justice
Season 2 Episode:12. July 14, 2026
Exposes cultural co-optation in gentrification, guiding our commitment to authentic community arts partnerships that resist rather than enable displacement.
Summary: Investigates "artwashing" in Berlin, where developers use art to rebrand neighborhoods while planning the eventual eviction of communities.Connection: Rejects artwashing by paying local artists fairly and using cultural programming to support rather than undermine housing justice and tenant organizing.
Key Takeaways: • Real estate developers weaponize art and culture to facilitate gentrification• Artwashing represents profitable neoliberal urbanism that displaces communities• Artists face pressure to choose between co-optation and solidarity with housing justice• Artist-led resistance movements collaborating with housing activists offer alternatives• Cultural production can serve either capital accumulation or community empowerment
Keywords: Artwashing, Berlin, gentrification, real estate, resistance, urban geography.
Source: Artists and urban artwashing in 2020s Berlin: co-optation, gentrification, and resistance, Claudia Seldin
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Feminist Plazas: Co-Creating Gender-Just Public Squares
Season 2 Episode: 11.
Provides models of feminist urban co-creation in Montreal and Montevideo, demonstrating how grassroots movements can transform public space through horizontal partnerships with municipalities.
Summary: Examines how feminist movements influenced urban planning to create gender-sensitive squares like Plaza las Pioneras.Connection: Implements horizontal governance where racialized and working-class women have decision-making power through feminist mapping and co-design workshops.
Key Takeaways: • Feminist urbanism requires securing the right to the gendered city• Social reproduction and safety must be prioritized over male-centered design• Horizontal partnerships between governments and feminist collectives enable transformative change• Visual storytelling and participatory methods preserve marginalized cultural knowledge• Collective sensemaking allows communities to resist external erasure of their narratives• Traditional knowledge systems maintained through craft and art require protection
Keywords: Visual storytelling, heritage mapping, weaving, participatory research, traditional knowledge.
Keywords: Feminist urbanism, public space, Montreal, Montevideo, gender equality, self-management.
Source: The creation of feminist urban public squares: The cases of Montreal and Montevideo, Charmain Levy and Sylvie Paré

Source: Visual Participatory Storytelling: An Art-Based Creative Mapping of Everyday Weaving Storylines, Meanings and Heritage, Muzeyi Yelyen and Godfred Amankwaa
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.

Care Blocks: Building Solidarity Through Public Care Infrastructure
Season 2 Episode:.
Demonstrates how care infrastructure creates unexpected social networks, guiding our vision of parks as sites where care is collectivized and caregivers find mutual support.
Summary: Highlights Bogotá's "Care Blocks" and how public services foster support networks among women caregivers, challenging the privatization of labor.Connection: Features community kitchens, childcare areas, and tool libraries to transform care from an isolated domestic labor into a collective, visible practice.
Key Takeaways: • Care infrastructure builds social capital and transforms domestic isolation into collective solidarity• Institutional support catalyzes recognition of care as valuable labor• Public spaces function as essential "third places" providing social connection and wellbeing• Pandemic exposed significant spatial inequalities in access to caring infrastructures• Mundane social interactions in public spaces serve as essential scaffolds for community life• Care infrastructure creates unanticipated social networks among caregivers
Keywords: Care infrastructure, public space, pandemic, third places, Sydney, storying.

Keywords: Care Blocks, Bogotá, SIDICU, care infrastructure, social capital, unremunerated care.
Source: Care networks as unanticipated gains of local public policy, María José Álvarez-Rivadulla, Sebastián Orlando Espejo Fandiño, Friederike Fleischer, et al.

Source: Public spaces as infrastructures of care: mundane doings of/in ordinary places, Miriam Williams, Justine Lloyd, Harriet Narwal, et al.
The Feminist Park is a pioneering intersectional feminist urban initiative that reimagines public green space through the lived experiences of women, migrants, LGBTQI+ people, and racialised communities. Rooted in care ethics, anti-racism, and queer theory, the project challenges the androcentric design of cities by co-creating inclusive, safe, and ecologically regenerative parks. By combining rigorous scientific research with grassroots feminist praxis, the Feminist Park advocates for the right to the city for all bodies,particularly those historically excluded from public space. Learn more and join the movement at www.feminist-park.org.