Antonio Di Campli

Antonio Di Campli's picture

Associate Professor (L. 240)
Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST)

Profile

Research interests

Debt and space
Decolonial urbanism
Ecological design
Global south - informal urbanism
Rural studies
Urban design
Urban planning

Scientific branch

CEAR-12/B - Urban and Landscape Planning
(Area 0008 - Civil engineering and architecture)

Research topics

  • If there is one concept that proves impermeable to spatial analysis, it is that of debt. There are many political, historical, and even semantic reasons for the resistance to identifying the relationships between debt and spatial production. On the one hand, the diversity of contexts—economics and design disciplines—on the other, the varying meanings attributed to the two terms over time, have made it impractical to establish a relationship between the concepts of debt and space.Debt, as a social and economic phenomenon, has a scope that precedes even monetary economics itself, condensing into a moral imperative that serves as a principle for public opinion and action. But when, as in the contemporary situation, many people tend, in different forms, to become indebted, the very category of credit itself begins to wane. The thesis, now put forward by many, is that we are structurally becoming, not only in the Global South but also in the West, societies of debtors (Graeber 2011; Lazzarato 2012). This is both because debt bondage remains the main practice for recruiting low-cost labor in much of the world, and because the majority of salaried workers and employees in Western countries often work to repay mortgages, interest-bearing loans, and in some cases, usurious debts. The distinctly biopolitical nature of this practice should not escape the attention of those engaged in urban studies. Examples include the condition of migrants forced to pay with semi-free labor to the criminals who control the job market in large-scale extractivist rural production areas, or graduates, particularly in the United States, who spend years of their lives repaying student loans or medical bills. The outcome of the power relationship between unequal parties is established and continuously reactivated by the neoliberal machine, by the rise of its platforms and logistical networks. With the difference that, in the society of generalized debt, it is as if the fate of subordination—once reserved for the Global South—has now extended to everything. Instead of the stronger part incorporating the weaker one within its boundaries, as was the case in the modern era, today it is the weaker part that seems to absorb the stronger one into its void (of economic resources). Consider migrants who go into debt to cross the Mediterranean or the many cases of female microcredit in countries like India, Nepal, or Mexico aimed at triggering basic productive economies. In these extreme cases, debt is tied to mere survival. However, much more often, debt infiltrates, in an opaque manner, into life projects, imaginaries, and relationships between economies. The hypothesis proposed here is that debt is a ‘practice of dwelling’ that manifests itself through specific forms of spatial production. Space that is produced within conditions of obligation, entanglements between forms of predation and extractivist production
  • This project advances a set of interpretative and design hypotheses regarding key characteristics and challenges of contemporary rural spaces. It explores the redefinition of spatial production processes that shape these areas and the nature of projects that should engage with them. Today, rural spaces and societies are experiencing new forms of social fragmentation, conflict, distancing, and evolving interactions among social groups, ecologies, and spatial production systems. These dynamics define what Italian anthropologist Ernesto de Martino describes as a new "rural presence." The underlying hypothesis is that these processes are the result of successive ecological, economic, and health crises that have unfolded in the West since 2008. This sequence of crises has triggered, at least in Western contexts, a consolidation of so-called platforms—both digital and physical—for the management of services and goods, an increasing centrality of logistics in production and distribution processes, and a reconfiguration of the meaning and value of proximity, alongside what some scholars identify as a process of de-globalization. In rural contexts, the intersection of platform logics and logistical systems has led to the expansion of scalable spaces and production (Tsing), reinforcing opaque processes of rural extractivism and socio-spatial fragmentation. These trends intertwine with phenomena of abandonment, the spread of extractive production models, complex territorial valorization policies, and patterns of emigration and immigration. Against this backdrop, this research pursues a twofold objective. On one hand, it seeks to develop analytical tools to decipher this new rural presence, which often manifests as an invisible or elusive condition—both in analytical terms and within mainstream rural narratives. On the other hand, it aims to identify relevant design strategies for rethinking rural projects in Western contexts. The research follows a multidisciplinary approach, fostering connections between urban planning knowledge and insights from the social and economic sciences. It aligns with the Department’s research priorities on territorial governance and societal challenges, specifically referencing SDG 11, with particular attention to: SDG 11.A: Supporting economic, social, and environmental linkages between urban and rural areas. Moreover, the project is framed within the ERC research domains: SH3_9: Spatial development, architecture, land use, and regional planning. SH3_7: Migration. SH3_8: Mobility, tourism, transportation, and logistics.

Skills

ERC sectors

SH7_7 - Cities; urban, regional and rural studies
SH2_3 - Conflict resolution, war, peace building
SH7_8 - Land use and planning
SH7_2 - Migration

SDG

Goal 5: Gender equality
Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Editorial boards

Teaching

Collegi of the PhD programmes

  • URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 2024/2025 (40. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • NATIONAL PHD IN PEACE STUDIES, 2024/2025 (40. ciclo)
    Università degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza"
  • URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 2023/2024 (39. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 2022/2023 (38. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 2021/2022 (37. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 2020/2021 (36. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
MostraNascondi collegi passati

Collegi of the degree programmes

Teachings

PhD

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Master of Science

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Bachelor of Science

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Research

Research projects

Projects funded by commercial contracts

Supervised PhD students

Other activities and projects related to research

1 DEBT AND SPACE

If there is one concept that proves impermeable to spatial analysis, it is that of debt. There are many political, historical, and even semantic reasons for the resistance to identifying the relationships between debt and spatial production. On the one hand, the diversity of contexts—economics and design disciplines—on the other, the varying meanings attributed to the two terms over time, have made it impractical to establish a relationship between the concepts of debt and space.Debt, as a social and economic phenomenon, has a scope that precedes even monetary economics itself, condensing into a moral imperative that serves as a principle for public opinion and action. But when, as in the contemporary situation, many people tend, in different forms, to become indebted, the very category of credit itself begins to wane.

The thesis, now put forward by many, is that we are structurally becoming, not only in the Global South but also in the West, societies of debtors (Graeber 2011; Lazzarato 2012). This is both because debt bondage remains the main practice for recruiting low-cost labor in much of the world, and because the majority of salaried workers and employees in Western countries often work to repay mortgages, interest-bearing loans, and in some cases, usurious debts. The distinctly biopolitical nature of this practice should not escape the attention of those engaged in urban studies. Examples include the condition of migrants forced to pay with semi-free labor to the criminals who control the job market in large-scale extractivist rural production areas, or graduates, particularly in the United States, who spend years of their lives repaying student loans or medical bills.

The outcome of the power relationship between unequal parties is established and continuously reactivated by the neoliberal machine, by the rise of its platforms and logistical networks. With the difference that, in the society of generalized debt, it is as if the fate of subordination—once reserved for the Global South—has now extended to everything. Instead of the stronger part incorporating the weaker one within its boundaries, as was the case in the modern era, today it is the weaker part that seems to absorb the stronger one into its void (of economic resources). Consider migrants who go into debt to cross the Mediterranean or the many cases of female microcredit in countries like India, Nepal, or Mexico aimed at triggering basic productive economies. In these extreme cases, debt is tied to mere survival. However, much more often, debt infiltrates, in an opaque manner, into life projects, imaginaries, and relationships between economies.

The hypothesis proposed here is that debt is a ‘practice of dwelling’ that manifests itself through specific forms of spatial production. Space that is produced within conditions of obligation, entanglements between forms of predation and extractivist production


2 RURAL ECOLOGIES
This project advances a set of interpretative and design hypotheses regarding key characteristics and challenges of contemporary rural spaces. It explores the redefinition of spatial production processes that shape these areas and the nature of projects that should engage with them. Today, rural spaces and societies are experiencing new forms of social fragmentation, conflict, distancing, and evolving interactions among social groups, ecologies, and spatial production systems. These dynamics define what Italian anthropologist Ernesto de Martino describes as a new "rural presence." The underlying hypothesis is that these processes are the result of successive ecological, economic, and health crises that have unfolded in the West since 2008. This sequence of crises has triggered, at least in Western contexts, a consolidation of so-called platforms—both digital and physical—for the management of services and goods, an increasing centrality of logistics in production and distribution processes, and a reconfiguration of the meaning and value of proximity, alongside what some scholars identify as a process of de-globalization. In rural contexts, the intersection of platform logics and logistical systems has led to the expansion of scalable spaces and production (Tsing), reinforcing opaque processes of rural extractivism and socio-spatial fragmentation. These trends intertwine with phenomena of abandonment, the spread of extractive production models, complex territorial valorization policies, and patterns of emigration and immigration. Against this backdrop, this research pursues a twofold objective. On one hand, it seeks to develop analytical tools to decipher this new rural presence, which often manifests as an invisible or elusive condition—both in analytical terms and within mainstream rural narratives. On the other hand, it aims to identify relevant design strategies for rethinking rural projects in Western contexts. The research follows a multidisciplinary approach, fostering connections between urban planning knowledge and insights from the social and economic sciences. It aligns with the Department’s research priorities on territorial governance and societal challenges, specifically referencing SDG 11, with particular attention to: SDG 11.A: Supporting economic, social, and environmental linkages between urban and rural areas. Moreover, the project is framed within the ERC research domains: SH3_9: Spatial development, architecture, land use, and regional planning. SH3_7: Migration. SH3_8: Mobility, tourism, transportation, and logistics.


Publications

PoliTO co-authors

Last years publications View all publications in Porto@Iris

More publicationsLess publications