Browsing by Subject "Italian peripheries"

This thesis delves into the interactions of residents living within an incomplete and fractured housing project in Catania, Sicilia. It mirrors the everyday experiences to the perception of the residential area of Librino as an urban ruin and symbol of poverty. Through the lens of 'toward an anthropology of the good' (Robbins 2013), this study seeks to uncover the regenerative and socially constructed practices and engagements of everyday life within Librino by using participant observation as research method. Research question is ‘How residents negotiate and situate themselves in the fluid area of segregated space?’. Focus is on their urban condition, intersectional marginalisation, segregation, and foremost, on the acts of engagement that have gradually transformed the community and their environment in the absence of effective policies and infrastructure. The research emphasizes the role and influence of academical knowledge production, as well as the importance of recognizing the responsibility of researchers. Introducing the uplifting and hopeful spirit of many of the residents with ethnographic work challenges stereotypes, and aims to portray these people in Librino not as exotic or criminal 'others', but as individuals with agency and belonging. Reckless urbanisation and the alarming rise in amount of people facing urban poverty are urgent globally shared problems, therefore insight gained from observing life in Librino can provide additional frameworks for future research in this regard. Research was conducted as three-month stay in Librino, immersing into the daily activities of residents and activists from the area. This was done by living with local families, taking part in events and meetings hosted in Librino, to solidarity action and communal projects like sewing club, gardening, and surprisingly, rugby training. These are recorded as fieldnotes and photographs. Theoretical postulations come namely from Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey, Tom Slater, and Setha Low. They are seen on these pages as major contributors on anthropological theories about space and place, urban segregation, and inequality. Lefebvre has conducted a wide scope of urban studies while Low studies the social construction of space. Slater is an avid advocate of research-based policies for sustainable urbanisation, and Harvey has long-constructed radical approach to the neoliberal urban policy, showcasing more democratic approaches. Theory about belonging, agency and communities comes from the canon of Janet Carsten, Pierre Bourdieu, and from ethnographic studies done in communities around Mediterranean. Librino specific knowledge comes from policy publications and urban scholars like Laura Saija who with their colleges have conducted several studies in peripheries of Catania. Other notable contributing work include Andrea Muehlebachs theories about neoliberal welfare in Italia, Janet and Peter Schneiders immense amount of text about Sicilian life, and Phaedra Douzina-Bakalakis ideas about social relations as engagement networks. Three main arguments emerge: Librino possesses unique characteristics as place, social life is nuanced and observed to be vibrant on many arenas, and the people and place in Librino have been abandoned by governing bodies.