This article reconsiders the relationship between visibility and politicization. Drawing on empirical evidence from urban mobilization campaigns across Russia, we counter the existing literature on theories of the post-political and liminality by identifying four dimensions of visibility—publicity in urban space, objects of urban contestation, interaction with external audiences, and alliances with supporters—which activists fine-tune in their collective actions. Instead of treating visibility as either constitutive of, or entirely separated from, the political, this framework reveals its complex interplay with political engagement strategies in non-Western contexts. By doing so, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of dissent in authoritarian and high-risk environments.
Rumiantseva, V. & Chernysheva, L. (2026). Visibility in Authoritarian Urban Space: The (De)politicizing City and Grassroots Mobilizations in Russia. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.70105