Nightlife as counter-space in the neoliberal city. Experimentation, co-production and resistance in Geneva’s night-time economy

This thesis discusses the impact of the neoliberal rollout on the fabric of urban spaces, a perspective which has recently gained academic attention, particularly amongst social-spatial sciences such as geography. The research explores how actors of the Genevan nightlife have found themselves at the forefront of the resistance against urban transformations enforced by the neoliberal urban regime, having to adapt from a network of spaces which were informal, self-regulated, collective and arts-focused, to a nightscape dominated by hyper-regulation, individual entrepreneurialism and the commodification of space.

Organised around the idea of spaces of nightlife as ‘counter-spaces’ in neoliberal Geneva, the thesis discusses the role of experimentation as a process of the co-production of spaces which have the potential to stand against the neoliberal urban order.