Sociologist Dr Saskia Sassen contextualises national responses to the Paris attacks:

“Cities have a distinctive capacity to transform conflict into the civic. In contrast, national governments tend to militarize conflict. This does not mean that cities are peaceful spaces. On the contrary, cities have long been sites for conflicts, from war to racism and religious hatreds. And yet, militarizing conflict is not a particularly urban option: cities have tended to triage conflict through commerce and civic activity. Even more important, the overcoming of urban conflicts has often been the source for an expanded civic sense.”

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