Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
This thesis shows that ongoing processes of overdevelopment and gentrification on the Outer Banks lead to both direct and indirect displacement, fundamentally altering the sense of place among long...Show moreThis thesis shows that ongoing processes of overdevelopment and gentrification on the Outer Banks lead to both direct and indirect displacement, fundamentally altering the sense of place among long-term residents. Direct displacement is understood as the physical relocation of individuals or communities due to rising housing costs and development pressures. On a more subtle level, indirect displacement is manifested in significant alterations to the natural, built, and cultural landscapes. Thus, while many residents can continue to afford living in their homes, their surroundings quickly become unrecognizable. Authors observe that such landscape changes, resulting from overdevelopment and gentrification, may lead residents to experience a ‘loss of place’. The research set out to explore this phenomena: do long-term residents, or “natives”, experience a loss of place, or ‘placelessness’, amidst ongoing development pressures and changing social structures? If so, how? Additionally, how do residents maintain their sense of place in the face of such displacement? The findings imply that those residents who manage to stay in place, despite rising costs, experience profound changes to their sense of place. However, residents also employ resilient practices in order to maintain their sense of place and retain a deep love of place amidst these rapid changes to their community, culture, and natural environment. The current written article is complemented by a 30-minute ethnographic film highlighting the complexities of place change and displacement for long-term residents of the Outer Banks.Show less
This thesis puts into perspective to what degree there was a gentrification of Edo Japanese society through a work called the Dai Nihon Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō. This book, originally produced in 1752...Show moreThis thesis puts into perspective to what degree there was a gentrification of Edo Japanese society through a work called the Dai Nihon Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō. This book, originally produced in 1752 by Kawabe Sōyō, has had multiple reprints in later years and has an astounding number of surviving copies as of today. Combining social theory, historical context, scholarly debate, and Toshio Yokoyama's gentrification theory, this thesis helps shed light on the way Edo citizens acquired sophistication, and aims to add to the existing body of research regarding this subject.Show less
This paper examines the relationship between city branding and gentrification in the context of two neighbourhoods in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, namely San Telmo and La Boca. The paper...Show moreThis paper examines the relationship between city branding and gentrification in the context of two neighbourhoods in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, namely San Telmo and La Boca. The paper is divided into three chapters. The first chapter examines the theoretical constructions and underpinnings of both concepts, especially in the context of their conception and reception in Latin America. The second chapter lays out the historical background for the development of both city branding and gentrification in the city of Buenos Aires. The third chapter draws on fieldwork conducted in Buenos Aires between November 2016 and January 2017 that is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with public functionaries, academics, individuals involved in the tourism industry and residents in the neighbourhoods of San Telmo and La Boca.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
This thesis has focused on the transition of the 798 Dashanzi factory from 'artist village' to 'art zone' to show the positive and negative effects of the implementation of creative industries in...Show moreThis thesis has focused on the transition of the 798 Dashanzi factory from 'artist village' to 'art zone' to show the positive and negative effects of the implementation of creative industries in the Chinese urban context. I traced its evolution from its origins as an electronics factory, to an appropriation of urban land by artists and workers of the creative field, to an institutionally-accepted and promoted centre for 'creativity' and innovation. This evolution is deeply intertwined with socio-economic factors which the Chinese government supported as vehicles of (urban) development since Deng's 1978 'Open-door Policy': the dismantling of the danwei (work unit) structure; urbanization; the emergence of a real-estate market, and the rise of an urban upper-middle class. In addition, since the mid-2000s and following the explosion of Chinese contemporary art in the global art market, the government has supported the implementation of Culture Creative Industries as a strategy to build Chinese soft-power and capitalizing on intellectual property. If, on the one hand, these policies had indirect positive effects, such as the preservation of former industrial structures and the incrementation of the local economy, on the other hand they had dramatic consequences on the social environments which were subjected to them. In particular, in the case of 798, the artist community that gave rise to the artist village has been dismembered in favour of commercialization and gentrification of the area. Contemporarily to 798, the Caochangdi artist village sprang up as an urban village on the fringes of Beijing and has constituted itself as an independent reality, taking advantage of the semi-regimented rural status and falling into the cracks of Beijing's residential administration system. Thanks to its semi-illegal configuration, it has managed both to take advantage of the new creative policies implementing local economy, and to maintain the local community somewhat untouched by top-down urban rehabilitation. By adopting a perspective from the theories of place-making and place-branding, the comparison among the two artist villages and the analysis of their transformations helped me to stress the importance of the role of communities in the management of these areas.Show less
