ABSTRACT
The chapter develops a brief comparison of Shenzhen, Zanzibar, and Hartford three cities located in different regions which seem to present a little immediate basis for comparability but for which a Glissantian framework helps elucidate the connectivity. Archipelagic thinking enables "analysis of discontinuous but interconnected" places. Archipelagic thinking can be the basis for building an alternative understanding of how cities relate with one another across the globe. Most applications of archipelagic thinking are connected to Caribbean studies, but recent work has extended archipelagic thinking beyond this to the Black Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific and Indian Oceans. A Glissantian approach can add to that potency, where archipelagic thinking provides a starting place from which to 're-describe' southern cities as cities with vulnerable majorities, using 'vernaculars that can convey their singularities and also their possible relevance in relation to other settings'.
