Abstract
Having critically reviewed some of the limits inherent in methodological norms in comparative urban studies, this chapter turns to seek inspiration and guidance for reinventing comparison from the vernacular practices of comparison as actually applied and invented by urban scholars. It rifles through the archives to draw together a number of different examples of how a comparative imagination was put to work in urban studies through the late twentieth century, in search of insights for global urban studies today. The chapter identifies a contradiction between methodological conventions and the practices of urban researchers. Reinforcing the light-touch comparative gesture at the heart of urban studies could open up considerable scope for decolonial theoretical practices. It aims to bring into view a more philosophical and theoretical agenda entailed in efforts to reformat comparativism for exploring twenty-first-century urbanism. This includes questions about ‘stretching’ concepts across different contexts.
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