The School of Diplomacy and International Relations announced that Dr. Benjamin Goldfrank has received a grant from the acclaimed Transatlantic Platform for his international research initiative “PAR-CITY.”
T-AP fosters interdisciplinary collaboration through national and regional research institutions in the social sciences and humanities.
Professor Goldfrank has been on the faculty of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations since 2007. His research interests focus on comparative analysis of Latin American politics and experiments with participatory democracy at local and national levels.
As part of the PAR-CITY initiative, Goldfrank will investigate how cities around the world are reimagining democratic governance through urban participatory innovation (UPI). Led by Dr. Sam Halvorsen of Queen Mary, University of London, PAR-CITY brings together 25 researchers from 21 universities in seven major cities: Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Lyon, New York, São Paulo, Toronto and Warsaw. are. . T-AP provided approximately US$1.4 million in funding for the three-year project through seven different research institutes. Six Co-PIs with different educational backgrounds from each country will promote the project.
This interdisciplinary network investigates how these cities are responding to the most pressing democratic issues of our time. This project has three main objectives. Addressing the empirical importance of cities in responding to global challenges of democracy, governance and trust (DGT). We investigate the role of digital media, tools, and technology in the decline or strengthening of DGT in large cities. Develop DGT concepts, models, and theories through the core concepts of UPI.
Dr. Stephanie McNulty of Franklin and Marshall College leads the New York City team, which also includes Dr. Giampaolo Baiocchi of New York University’s Institute for Urban Democracy and Dr. Selina Hsu of New York University. Gittel Collective and Professor Goldfrank, City University of New York. With support from the National Science Foundation, the team will coordinate efforts to conduct research on New York’s participatory institutions, including Community Boards, PBNYC, People’s Money, and the grassroots initiative People’s Plan.
Professor Goldfrank, who has been researching participatory institutions for the past 20 years, recently said: “I am delighted to be part of a team in New York City with academics I have known for many years and to join this larger network of researchers in Africa. With this network, we are excited to explore how cities on both sides of the Atlantic are experimenting with new participatory institutions in the face of difficult challenges, from the sudden influx of immigrants. and gain a deeper understanding of the possibilities for strengthening democratic governance in challenging situations.”
Through this project, the PAR-CITY network will continue to contribute to the rich literature by creating co-authored books, multiple journal articles, and a digital platform to disseminate research results globally.
Categories: Nation and World, Research
