Posted on behalf of Marianne Blidon: Call for papers AAG 2012 New York (February 24-28) Disqualified places: practices and representations Organizers: France Guérin-Pace (Ined, CIST) and Marianne Blidon (University Paris 1, CRIDUP)
It is often assumed that the identity of territories reflects that of its inhabitants or users. In particular, when a territory is connoted in a negative way, the inhabitants may feel stigmatized by a belonging that they have not always chosen. On contrary, part of them tries to reverse the stigma by claiming this spatial inscription.In this session, we invite participants to explore: - The disqualifying dimension of the territory. If some areas are temporarily disqualified by forms of appropriation socially depreciated (e.g. squats, camps, presence of homeless people...) or events (riots, violence), others are disqualified more durably because of the characteristic of the territory itself (location, accessibility, etc..), the housing, or the population who live there. -The individuals who live, practice and/or invest such territories. It will focus on the individual’s representations of these spaces in relation with practices and possible identity strategies developed as a reaction. It will also consider the possible role of identity affirmation from the inhabitants in perpetuating the territory negative image. - Transformation of disqualified territories and its actors (individual initiatives, associations, elected representatives, etc.). The gentrification process will be discussed as one form of space transformation, but in terms of tensions generated between residents and newcomers and the forms of resistance which are developed. More generally, we are interested in how the transition from a negative to a positive image takes place. Please send inquiries and abstracts (250 words) before Monday September 19th France Guérin-Pace ([email protected]) and to Marianne Blidon ([email protected]). More information about the AAG conference: http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting
