Sense of place and place-based activism in the neoliberal city

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an outpouring of scholarship on the neoliberal city. Most of the widely read work on this topic has been theoretical, critical and tends to explore the larger political and economic mechanisms that structure urban space, foster social injustice and incite activism. However, missing from this body of literature is a recent critical study that examines the role of place theory and place-based resistance to neoliberal globalization in an urban context. This study draws from empirical research in North America to reveal the creative, complex and often contradictory ways some urban communities actualize a local sense of place in reaction to pervasive neoliberal forces. This paper suggests that employing a sense of place perspective may shed light on the ways local activists are prioritizing the local scale in an attempt to negotiate the complex and even contradictory policies evident in the current neoliberal period.

Keywords:

• sense of place
• urban activism
• neoliberal urbanization
• place-based activism

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the interviewees for their participation in this study. The author is also indebted to the editor and the reviewers of City, whose supportive critical remarks improved this paper immensely.

Notes

There are very few exceptions to this, and they tend to focus specifically on gated communities and urban segregation (see, for instance, Le Goix 2006; Grant 2005; Pow 2009).

While not specifically referencing sense of place, Barber (1992) and later Escobar (2001) also speak to activism in response to external cultural, economic and political forces of globalization.

For more on the historical situation of Austin and its reputation for ‘weirdness’, see Long (2010).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua Long

Joshua Long is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Southwestern University.