scholarly journals Narratives of peripheralisation: Place, agency and generational cohorts in post-industrial Estonia

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alena Pfoser

Research on spatial polarisation in Central and Eastern Europe has tended to focus on macro-economic processes that create certain places and people as peripheral and has highlighted the socioeconomic impact of peripheralisation, while paying only limited attention to local experiences and responses. Drawing on a multiscalar conception of peripheralisation processes, the article examines the making of socio-spatial inequalities from the perspective of the periphery and foregrounds the narrative practices through which actors negotiate peripheralisation processes, focusing on the case of Narva, a former industrial city in Estonia’s Northeastern region. In the face of negative structural dynamics, actors rework their peripheral status by articulating a positive sense of belonging, claiming recognition based on their work and trying to exert control over their futures. The paper particularly highlights generational differences within these narrative responses to spatial inequalities. While older working-class populations’ narratives are shaped by collective and place-based resilience, the post-socialist generation employs more individualised strategies in the face of peripheralisation and exercises agency by detaching themselves from place. Analysing these responses, the article draws attention to constrained agency as well as cultural differentiation within peripheral communities.

2021 ◽  
pp. 004208592098729
Author(s):  
Amalia Z. Dache ◽  
Keon M. McGuire

The purpose of this study is to illustrate how in the span of three decades, a working-class Black gay male college student residing in a post-industrial city navigated college. Through a postcolonial geographic epistemology and theories of human geography, we explore his narrative, mapping the terrain of sexual, race and class dialects, which ultimately led to Marcus’s (pseudonym) completion of graduate school and community-based policy research. Marcus’s educational human geography reveals the unique and complex intersections of masculinity, Blackness and class as identities woven into his experiences navigating the built environment.


Urban Studies ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy C. Pratt

This paper seeks to examine critically the role of culture in the continued development, or regeneration, of `post-industrial' cities. First, it is critical of instrumental conceptions of culture with regard to urban regeneration. Secondly, it is critical of the adequacy of the conceptual framework of the `post-industrial city' (and the `service sector') as a basis for the understanding and explanation of the rise of cultural industries in cities. The paper is based upon a case study of the transformation of a classic, and in policy debates a seminal, `cultural quarter': Hoxton Square, North London. Hoxton, and many areas like it, are commonly presented as derelict parts of cities which many claim have, through a magical injection of culture, been transformed into dynamic destinations. The paper suggests a more complex and multifaceted causality based upon a robust concept of the cultural industries as industry rather than as consumption.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2301-2312
Author(s):  
S.V. Popova ◽  

In post-industrial society, there is an increase in the role of small business as an integral element of the reproduction process. The activities of small and medium-sized businesses in our country are carried out on the basis of the established global trends. Difficulties in the dynamics of this sphere are formed under the influence of increased concentration of production and consolidation of enterprises, which gives rise to a number of problems and contradictions. Considering small business as the most important component of the market economy, its role in solving the problems of creating a competitive environment and ensuring employment should be noted. The scientific literature on the problem under consideration shows the versatility in the authors’ views of the small business role in economic development. This problem is disclosed in sufficient detail in the works of foreign authors (M Weber, J. Gelbraith, P. Drucker, W. Sombart, R. Cantillon, R Coase, J. Keynes, K. Marx, A. Marshall, L. Mises, A. Smith, J. Schumpeter and others). In Russia, L. Abalkin, A. Anchishkin, K. Bazhenov, S. Witte, V. Inozemtsev, M. Lapusta, L. Slutsky, P. Stolypin, M. Tugan-Baranovsky, A. Chayanov and etc. considered this problem. The article reveals the role of small business in the Russian economy, as well as the problems and contradictions of its functioning. On the basis of a systematic analysis of the current trends, the problems, efficiency and significance of small business are identified. Research has shown that the role of small businesses is greatly exaggerated. Small business development acts as a factor in reducing unemployment. In the process of economic activity, a number of problems arise that the enterprises themselves cannot solve. A set of measures is required to support this activity and overcome the crisis. It is important that small and medium-sized enterprises can form their own accumulation fund, which can be used to adapt in the face of stagnation, which will increase the size of the labor force and labor productivity. The crisis of small and medium-sized businesses leads to a multiplier effect in the economy, which reduces the volume of GDP. As a result of the “concentration of capital” among large producers, smallscale production becomes unproductive and unprofitable. The opportunities for obtaining loans from small businesses are very limited. Modern high-tech productive equipment is not available to most. In many enterprises, there is no separation in order to save financial resources on wages. The social security of employees is low. The prosperity of any country in a post-industrial society depends on big business; small business is only an auxiliary sphere of activity. Relying on small business, it is impossible to improve the quality of life, to ensure economic growth and national security. The results of the study can be used in determining the strategic guidelines of economic policy and choosing development priorities.


Author(s):  
Kine Dorum ◽  
Craig Bartle ◽  
Martin Pennington

Research has shown that students who live off-campus during the academic year experience greater difficulty with social integration, and are at higher risk of dropping out. The aim of the present study was to explore patterns that may give an indication of the extent to which the use of social media websites can help social and academic integration among students who are living off-campus. A survey was distributed among a cohort of 370 first year undergraduate students, measuring their sense of belonging to the institution and their attitudes towards student life. Students who lived on-campus and who used social media websites reported a stronger sense of belonging than students living off-campus. A significant interaction effect indicated that using social media websites reduced the difference in sense of belonging between students living on- and off-campus. Scores on the attitude scale were significantly related to sense of belonging. The results suggest that online networking can aid social integration among students who do not have the advantage of the face-to-face interaction that takes place in residential life on-campus.


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