The impending collapse of the European urban middle class: the European Union's de-naturing of space and place
Journal Title: Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology - Year 2011, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
The authors argue that the various middle classes of Europe, especially Western Europe, are being fragilised as a result of globalization, certain political tendencies and especially by the standardization of space and place following the implementation of a policy of Europeanisation. In particular, we concentrate on the ECoC (European Capitals of Culture) programme (launched in 1983, over 40 Cities have held the title since), as this embodies these changes and pressures. We argue that the middle classes are caught in a crisis of confidence in traditional institutional arrangements as local definitions of time and space traditionally grounded in individuals and neighborhoods are reworked and reoriented to favour national and especially European identities. The new difficulty of attaching a sense of self to public places and to local time has weakened the social Self and created resentment towards larger political institutions responsible for denaturing local time and place.
Authors and Affiliations
Guy Lanoue, Vincent Mirza, Jorge Pantaleon
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP40937
- DOI -
- Views 245
- Downloads 0
Theorizing the relationship between welfare state regimes and health using comparative national-level health measures
Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social policy structures on health. Recently, several welfare state regime typologies have been identified as having relevance for...
Gender and video games: How is female gender generally represented in various genres of video games?
Gender representation in video games is a current sensitive topic in entertainment media. Gender studies in video games look at the difference between the portrayal of female and male characters. Most video games tend...
A medley of meanings: Insights from an instance of gameplay in League of Legends
This article engages with the notion of insightful gameplay. It recounts debates about what, if anything, makes play meaningful. Through these, it contends that while some games are explicitly designed to foster insigh...
Social structure vs. self rehabilitation: IDF widows forming an intimate relationship in the sociopolitical discourse
The public discourse pertaining to IDF (Israel Defense Forces) widows, especially those cohabiting with a partner out of wedlock, is presented by means of a study that analyzes competing representations in the sociopol...
Once upon a tale On the foundational role of narrative in constructing linguistic and social experience
This paper illustrates the importance of narrativity as a cognitive and linguistic procedure, and the role of storytelling as a social practice. After examining the structural analogy between the “story frame” and our...