Video Ethnography and Critical Research for More Democratic Urbanization : The Case of Milan’s Chinatown

This article reflects on the notion of urban democracy through a video-ethnographic study of the conflicts that followed the 2007 riots in Milan’s Chinese neighborhood. I explore how the theoretical and methodological union of critical urban ethnographies with social documentary techniques can contribute to praxis for more democratic urbanization. Through selected video-ethnographic vignettes, I discuss how such an approach involves issues of ethics, voice, form and politics. The documentary exposes the material effects of inequality and domination in a unique and vivid manner; it also offers alternatives and encourages the ethnographer to assume a clear position in intervening on hegemonic practices. The conclusion explains how the production and consumption of such video-ethnographies affect the social, moral and, most importantly, political perception of a particular urban setting.