If the city were ours

Joice Berth, one of Brazil's most prominent anti-racist activists, is launching her first book on the right to the city.

In recent years, Joice Berth has gained significant public traction with valuable arguments about the challenges facing anti-racist and feminist struggles to advance fundamental social equality issues—whether in customs, the labor market, or institutional policy. Her statements have made her a household name on social media, quickly earning her recognition as one of the most sought-after influencers for analyzing facts and behaviors that expose our most pressing social issues.

In * If the City Were Ours* , Joice Berth addresses the central theme of her studies and concerns: the right to the city. In this book, the disciplines of architecture and urban planning are intertwined with racial and feminist critique. Through purposeful and accessible writing, the author tells the story of the formation of Brazilian cities since colonization, highlighting the extent to which our urbanization projects, even the most recent, carry a persistently hygienist legacy. Thus, the thinking and projects of renowned architects and urban planners such as Lúcio Costa, Lina Bo Bardi, and Diébédo Francis Kéré are paired with the insights of Angela Davis, bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, Paulo Freire, and Milton Santos.

After reading * If the City Were Ours* , it's unlikely that urban space will continue to be seen as a uniform model that separates center and periphery, rich and poor, white and Black, men and women. Here, Joice Berth proposes alternatives for 21st-century Brazilian municipalities, so that they can transform themselves into spaces of synergy of knowledge, a gathering of diverse ways of life, and opportunities for a better existence for all, regardless of gender, race, class, or sexual orientation.