Western Sydney Lecture Series 2026: “Who has the right to the (inclusive) city?” Counter-narratives of disability mobility in Western Sydney (Greater Sydney) and Seine-Saint-Denis (Greater Paris)

Western Sydney Lecture Series 2026: “Who has the right to the (inclusive) city?” Counter-narratives of disability mobility in Western Sydney (Greater Sydney) and Seine-Saint-Denis (Greater Paris)

In this talk, Sarah Nectoux will present counter-narratives of mobility from people with disabilities in Western Sydney and Seine-Saint-Denis. Drawing from findings of her doctoral research, Sarah examines how mobility emerges as sensorial and affective, economic, hybrid – crossing physical and digital spaces – and embedded within networks of care. Instead of being readily available, the counter-narratives show a practice individuals have to secure through additional forms of labour, whether physical, cognitive, affective or temporal, while also underlining individuals’ resilience and agency in their immobility. These everyday practices, in return, make visible the fragmented and unstable nature of urban access both in Western Sydney and Seine-Saint-Denis.

By foregrounding these experiences, the talk considers how mobility can be used to examine broader questions of belonging and the right to the city.

About the Speaker

Sarah Nectoux is an early-career researcher at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, having submitted a PhD in July 2026. Her research examines how mobility can be used to examine the production of space and the right to the city for people with disabilities in two urban peripheries (Western Sydney, Seine-Saint-Denis). As a social geographer, Sarah is interested in questions of belonging, citizenship and space (both physical and digital).