Recent academic arguments in transnational and mobility studies have emphasised fl uid and fl exible understandings of concepts such as place and home. This paper, however, will argue that the desire to fi x home with particular meaning by attaching it to place is still apparent even for highly mobile migrants, and seeks to explore why this is the case. Using data from qualitative research with a group of highly mobile Australian transnational professionals working in Asia, the paper elaborates on social, material, and imaginative home-making strategies utilised to re-place home, regarded as a space of comfort and cultural fi t. These strategies were ultimately a means by which expatriates managed affective responses to difference that were generated in new cultural contexts that challenged subjective understandings of identity. The paper concludes that mobility does not necessarily equate with relinquishing connections between home and place, but complex belonging to 'bits' of multiple homes for particular participants was also evident.
Analyses of contemporary processes of gentrification have been primarily produced from adult perspectives with little focus on how age affects or mediates urban change. However, in analysing young people's responses to transformations in their neighbourhood we argue that there is evidence for a more complex relationship between ‘gentrifiers' and residents than existing arguments of antagonism or tolerance would suggest. Using a participatory video methodology to document experiences of gentrification in the east London borough of Hackney, we found that young people involved in this study experienced their transforming city through processes of spatial dislocation and affective displacement. The former incorporated a sense of disorientation in the temporal disjunctions of the speed of change, while the latter invoked the embodiment of a sense of not belonging generated within classed and intercultural interactions. However, there are expressions of ambivalence rather than straightforward rejection. Benefits of gentrification were noted, including conditions of alterity and the possibility to transcend normative behaviours that they found uncomfortable. Young people demonstrated the capacity to reimagine their relationship with the complex spaces they call home. The findings suggest a need to reframe debates on gentrification to include a more nuanced understanding of its differential impact on young people.
As part of Delhi's redevelopment, aimed at creating a 'global city', new public transport infrastructure is being built. The Metro, in particular, has become iconic of what city authorities and developers refer to as Delhi's 'cosmopolitan' and 'world city' status. Authorities have attempted to change commuting practices embedded in the culture of Delhi, a crowded, economically and culturally diverse city, in line with desired new behaviours including an emphasis on cleanliness, order and quiet. To explore these developments this paper presents findings from a qualitative study (conducted in 2009) analysing the urban mobility of a diverse group of young people. Their experiences of the Metro revealed interacting fields of power in the city, between passengers, and between passengers and those in control of the network. These relationships were situated within wider processes of urban reconstruction that intersect with global flows of capital, technology and ideologies of 'modernity' and development. The findings also highlighted the contestation of cosmopolitanism: its use to describe a desired urban imagination and its deployment as everyday competencies of negotiation and flexibility designed to manage change, unfamiliarity and inequality.
Marked by high levels of diversity and gentrification, changing demographics in east London highlight the need for new analytical tools to examine how formerly familiar spaces must now be renegotiated. Conceptual frameworks of habit and affect have informed the contemporary analysis of how encounters with difference unfold within transforming cityscapes. However, findings from a participatory research project with young people suggest a more reflexive management of classed and racialised encounters is occurring as accumulated cultural knowledge is tested and revised from which new practices emerge. Attention to processes of reflexivity highlighted the capacity of young people to consciously weigh options and choose a range of strategies under conditions of 'breach' , including: degrees of acceptance of change; re-working space use through avoidance and adapting everyday practices such as dress and food; as well as developing attributes that enable engagement such as empathy. Feelings of judgement appeared as a dominant driver of reflexivity, while disposition and place contextualised and modified responses. Yet, while the possibilities for subjective re-evaluation and adaptation are apparent, the study raises questions of inequality in the expectation that young people are being asked to adapt to new cultural norms not of their making.Retravailler la rencontre: rôle de la réflexivité dans la gestion de la différence RÉSUMÉ Marquée par une proportion élevée de diversité et de gentrification, l'évolution de la démographie à l'est de Londres fait ressortir le besoin de nouveaux outils analytiques pour examiner comment les espaces qui étaient familiers dans le passé doivent maintenant être renégociés. Les cadres conceptuels de l'habitude et de l'affect ont servi à l'analyse contemporaine de la manière dont les rencontres avec la différence se déroulent au sein de paysages urbains en transformation. Pourtant, les résultats d'un projet de recherche participative avec des jeunes suggèrent qu'il existe actuellement une gestion plus réflexive des rencontres de classes et de races au fur et à mesure qu'une connaissance culturelle accumulée est testée et révisée et à partir de laquelle émergent de nouvelles pratiques. L'attention accordée au processus de réflexivité a mis en évidence la capacité des jeunes à Reevaluando al encuentro: el papel de la reflexividad en el manejo de la diferencia RESUMENMarcada por los altos niveles de diversidad y aburguesamiento, la demografía cambiante en el este de Londres destaca la necesidad de nuevas herramientas analíticas para examinar cómo antiguamente los espacios familiares deben ahora ser renegociados. Marcos conceptuales de hábito y afecto han informado al análisis contemporáneo de cómo los encuentros con la diferencia se desarrollan dentro de paisajes urbanos en transformación. Sin embargo, los resultados de un proyecto de investigación participativa con jóvenes sugieren que una gestión más reflexiva de los encuentros clasificados y de carácter racial está ocurriendo a med...
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