Papers by Nick Schuermans
Drawing on photo-elicitation interviews with 60 middle-class, white residents of two privileged s... more Drawing on photo-elicitation interviews with 60 middle-class, white residents of two privileged suburbs of Cape Town, this paper focuses on the particularities and the potential effects of mobile encounters with strangers. Starting from discourses about different means of transportation, it is demonstrated, first, that middle-class, white South Africans prefer cars over public transit not only for safety reasons or matters of practicality but also to circumvent interactions with those whom they consider to be strangers. Yet, based on the ambiguous and ambivalent sensations of fear, shame, guilt, sympathy, apathy and anxiety provoked by glances and glimpses of strangers on drives through the city, it is clarified that particular forms of visual encounter which develop on-the-go can stimulate privileged residents of a very unequal city to develop new engagements with strangers. By analyzing how unfocused interactions through the windshield add up to focused interactions at home and at work, it is shown, more specifically, how different types of encounters at different places complement each other to encourage middle-class, white residents to see the humanity of those whom they had considered to be strange or dangerous before.
Drawing on photo-elicitation interviews with middle class, white residents of a privileged neighb... more Drawing on photo-elicitation interviews with middle class, white residents of a privileged neighborhood of Cape Town, this paper infers that many scholars rely on a narrow understanding of the nature and the geography of encounters in cities to make exaggerated claims about the effects of enclave urbanism. Inspired by Amin's (2013a) notion of telescopic urbanism, the author moves beyond the sedentarist focus on residential enclaves to conceptualize a wide range of encounters which may occur inside and in-between enclaves. In the empirical sections, the paper demonstrates that the retreat into patrolled neighborhoods, upscale shopping malls and private transportation is inspired not only by the ambition to avoid crime, but also by the desire to circumvent confrontations with racialized poverty. Yet, by focusing on moments of stasis and mobility inside and in-between various enclaves, the author argues that encounters across lines of race and class still do occur and have the potential to challenge privileged residents to reconsider their stereotypes about the poor and to become aware of their own privileges. As such, the paper ends with a call for more profound, empirical and context-sensitive studies on encounters in enclave cities.
In many Western European countries, concern rises that both formal mechanisms of redistribution a... more In many Western European countries, concern rises that both formal mechanisms of redistribution and informal acts of charity, reciprocity and support are challenged by ethnic and cultural diversity. Against such gloomy perspectives, this paper draws on insights from sociology, geography, pedagogy and political science to argue that four traditional sources of solidarity (interdependence, shared norms and values, struggle and encounter) remain relevant, but require a rethinking of their spatial and temporal framing to capture today's intricate engagements of solidarity. More specifically, we draw on theories from the aforementioned disciplines to claim that our understanding of solidarities grounded in the spatial boundedness of territorial states and the intergenerational continuity of supposedly culturally homogeneous nations should be complemented and enriched with an indepth knowledge of solidarities developing in an entirely different spatiotemporal register, namely that of the everyday places and practices in which people engage across ethnic and cultural boundaries.
Dit artikel biedt een korte inleiding tot dit themanummer over solidariteit in diversiteit. We fo... more Dit artikel biedt een korte inleiding tot dit themanummer over solidariteit in diversiteit. We focussen ons daarbij op twee specifieke dimensies uit het analytisch kader van het DieGem-project over innovatieve vormen van solidariteit ‘hier en nu’: de integratieve en transformatieve dynamieken van nieuwe vormen van solidariteit in diversiteit en ‘burgerschapspraktijken’. Op deze manier tonen we aan hoe de DieGem aanpak verschilt van de gangbare praktijken om te werken aan de sociale cohesie in een superdiverse samenleving.
While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative con... more While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative consequences of spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged people, researchers continue the debate about the desirability and feasibility of social mix. In this article, we add to this literature by focusing on the often neglected, but crucial practices and discourses of the privileged in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 74 white, middle class residents of eight different neighborhoods of the Ghent urban region in Belgium, we demonstrate that few middle class whites actually want to live in a mixed neighborhood. We also make it clear that those living in diversity do not necessarily take up the roles they are expected to take up by the advocates of social mix policies. Drawing on these findings, we propose to broaden the research agenda of studies on segregation and social mix.
The final attainment levels of Flemish secondary geography education stress the importance of res... more The final attainment levels of Flemish secondary geography education stress the importance of respect for other societies and the specific way of life of other people. As a consequence, curricula focus more than ever on topics such as the global north-south divide, migrations and the multicultural city. Drawing on an analysis of fifty Flemish geography textbooks published between 1896 and 2004, this paper critically addresses the way in which these topics have been presented. The study reveals that an emphasis on racial differences has been largely replaced by a focus on cultural differences. Yet, because of the strong emphasis on cultural otherness, the one-sided explanation of cultural conflicts, the manifest silencing of discrimination and xenophobia and the use of an exclusionary us-them-perspective, the textbooks (re)produce a racist and ethnocentric world view among young people in Flanders. Hence, the article concludes with four propositions for geography textbooks which motivate students to become part of a more inclusive, more diverse and more just society.
In Vlaanderen heeft onderzoek naar migratie en diversiteit zich sterk toegespitst op stedelijke l... more In Vlaanderen heeft onderzoek naar migratie en diversiteit zich sterk toegespitst op stedelijke leefomgevingen. Zowel in populaire discoursen als in academische betogen is etnische en culturele diversiteit onlosmakelijk verbonden met de stad. Statistieken tonen echter aan dat het aantal vreemdelingen ook in suburbane woonomgevingen toeneemt. Dit roept de vraag op hoe de bewoners van middenklasse suburbs omgaan met etnische en culturele diversiteit. Schermen zij het gemeenschapsleven af voor de nieuwkomers? Zien zij hen als een bedreiging voor de gevestigde waarden? Vindt er uitsluiting en stigmatisatie plaats? Of leidt contact juist tot een beter begrip en wederzijds respect? Speelt het middenklasse ideaal van de homogene suburb hierbij een belangrijke rol? Betekent dit dat mensen uit de lagere middenklasse anders kijken naar de lokale immigratie dan mensen uit de hogere middenklasse? Op basis van theoretische inzichten en internationale studies rond dit thema werken we in dit artikel een onderzoeksagenda rond deze vragen uit.
Review van Filip Canfyn - Het syndroom van verkavelingsvlaanderen - 2014 - Brussel: VUBPress
Ve... more Review van Filip Canfyn - Het syndroom van verkavelingsvlaanderen - 2014 - Brussel: VUBPress
Verschenen in Ruimte en Maatschappij 5 (4), 74-76
Vlaanderen wordt snel meer divers. Dat moeten we lezers van ALERT niet meer vertellen. En al conc... more Vlaanderen wordt snel meer divers. Dat moeten we lezers van ALERT niet meer vertellen. En al concentreert deze superdiversiteit zich nog steeds voornamelijk in de steden, stilaan krijgt ook de rest van het Vlaamse land er mee te maken. Anno 2013 is het omgaan met diversiteit dan ook een belangrijke uitdaging voor gans Vlaanderen. Buren, werknemers en werkgevers, leerlingen en leraars, voetballers en trainers worden allemaal geconfronteerd met meertaligheid, meerlagige identiteiten en culturele verschillen. Dat dit niet altijd even vanzelfsprekend is, spreekt voor zich.
De toenemende diversiteit zet ook druk op solidariteit. Bij veel sociologen heerst er pessimisme over het genereren van solidariteit in heterogene maatschappijen. Op basis van grootschalig onderzoek komen zij tot de conclusie dat diversiteit het totstandkomen van solidariteit in informele netwerken en nationale herverdelingsstructuren bemoeilijkt. We analyseren verderop die relatie tussen superdiversiteit en solidariteit en argumenteren dat solidariteit in diversiteit wel mogelijk is. Alleen moeten we die nieuwe vormen van solidariteit elders zoeken dan in de klassieke registers van de historisch gegroeide nationale gemeenschap en staat.
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
More than twenty years after the repeal of the Group Areas Act, South Africa is facing a number o... more More than twenty years after the repeal of the Group Areas Act, South Africa is facing a number of challenges with regards to housing, spatial planning and urban development. Government institutions, scholars, NGO’s and local communities have been looking for innovative ways to improve the housing conditions of all South Africans. With this special issue, we aim to demonstrate that international insights cannot only be relevant to understand and enrich South African cases, but that an in-depth analysis of the South African experiments can also be meaningful for academic analyses and political decisions in other parts of the world. In order to stimulate such a cross-fertilization, this article will briefly summarize the current situation in South Africa in the public housing sector, the private housing sector and the self-help approach. We will also introduce the eight papers of this special issue.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with 78 middle class Whites in two neighborhoods of Cape Town, thi... more Drawing on in-depth interviews with 78 middle class Whites in two neighborhoods of Cape Town, this paper focuses on domestic geographies of encounter. By looking at the motivations to fortify houses with walls, gates and alarms, it will be demonstrated, first, that seemingly banal actions to secure the residential environment are not only dependent upon the socio-spatial exclusion of poor people, but also specifically targeting it. Secondly, it will be argued that fortified homes provide, nevertheless, one of the rare places where White, middle class South Africans interact across class and race lines. Precisely because of the perceived absence of a crime threat, encounters with domestic workers, builders and homeless people inside and around fortified homes do not only help middle class Whites to shatter their naive assumptions about crime, poverty and privilege, but to set up small-scale acts of generosity as well. Based on these findings, the conclusion raises three issues to take up in the geographies of encounter literature. They relate to the nature of interactions, the conditions under which they emerge and their potential effects.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than 40 White South Africans in a middle class neighborh... more Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than 40 White South Africans in a middle class neighborhood of Cape Town, this paper looks at the motivations to secure South African houses and neighbourhoods with perimeter walls, security initiatives and neighbourhood watches. The discourses of the residents make it clear that seemingly banal actions to secure the residential environment are motivated as much by the fear of falling property prices and the fear of losing psychological comfort as they are driven by the high levels of crime and fear of crime.
Schuermans, N., Newton, C. (2012) Being a young and foreign researcher in South Africa: towards a postcolonialdialogue, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 33, 3, p. 295-300
"""Over the last two decades the study of the social and the spatial transitions in South Africa ... more """Over the last two decades the study of the social and the spatial transitions in South Africa has drawn numerous researchers and postgraduate students from all over the world. Based on our experiences as Belgian doctoral students doing fieldwork in South Africa, we discuss some of the challenges that confront early career human geographers from abroad when conducting research in South Africa. We concentrate on the unequal relations between researchers from the North and research participants from the South.
In this article, we reflect, specifically, upon the potentials and difficulties of establishing a 'space of betweenness' between researchers from the North and the researched from the South. To do so, we first sketch feminist theories that describe the research process in terms of a relation or a dialogue. By confronting these theories with our own research experiences as doctoral students in Cape Town, we aim to contribute to a postcolonial methodology in two critical ways.
First, we show that the betweenness of the research process has often been limited to the research encounter itself, whereas it is also necessary to think about the relation between researchers and research participants beforehand and afterwards. To develop a postcolonial research methodology it is essential, indeed, to rethink how we come to our research questions and how to engage with the research results. As a second point, we will demonstrate that a relational understanding of the research process has different implications in critical scholarship on the powerless as well as the powerful. Even though both types of studies can reveal processes and forces of oppression, they entail a different ethical stance regarding the role of the researched in the research process."""
On 8–9 May 2010, a deprived chengzhongcun (urban village) in the city of Hefei hosted a session o... more On 8–9 May 2010, a deprived chengzhongcun (urban village) in the city of Hefei hosted a session of the Second Hefei Contemporary Art Biennale. In this article, we focus on the artistic practices and the online and offline discussions that they evoked. Drawing upon literature on citizenship, public art, public space and public pedagogy, we analyse the exhibition and its social and political potentialities. Looking at a case study in a country where fear of an aggressive crackdown is part and parcel of the psychology of urban protest, we reflect upon the pedagogical potential of public art in the struggle for equal rights to housing, education and urban space. By paying special attention to the geographical and the pedagogical dimensions of this extraordinary event, we demonstrate that public art can play a role in Chinese citizenship struggles.
I am only allowed to put the final version online myself in on year's time. If you don't have access to the article, and if you would like to read it, please do not hesitate to ask a pdf from me: [email protected]
status: accepted, Jan 1, 2011
Uploads
Papers by Nick Schuermans
Verschenen in Ruimte en Maatschappij 5 (4), 74-76
De toenemende diversiteit zet ook druk op solidariteit. Bij veel sociologen heerst er pessimisme over het genereren van solidariteit in heterogene maatschappijen. Op basis van grootschalig onderzoek komen zij tot de conclusie dat diversiteit het totstandkomen van solidariteit in informele netwerken en nationale herverdelingsstructuren bemoeilijkt. We analyseren verderop die relatie tussen superdiversiteit en solidariteit en argumenteren dat solidariteit in diversiteit wel mogelijk is. Alleen moeten we die nieuwe vormen van solidariteit elders zoeken dan in de klassieke registers van de historisch gegroeide nationale gemeenschap en staat.
In this article, we reflect, specifically, upon the potentials and difficulties of establishing a 'space of betweenness' between researchers from the North and the researched from the South. To do so, we first sketch feminist theories that describe the research process in terms of a relation or a dialogue. By confronting these theories with our own research experiences as doctoral students in Cape Town, we aim to contribute to a postcolonial methodology in two critical ways.
First, we show that the betweenness of the research process has often been limited to the research encounter itself, whereas it is also necessary to think about the relation between researchers and research participants beforehand and afterwards. To develop a postcolonial research methodology it is essential, indeed, to rethink how we come to our research questions and how to engage with the research results. As a second point, we will demonstrate that a relational understanding of the research process has different implications in critical scholarship on the powerless as well as the powerful. Even though both types of studies can reveal processes and forces of oppression, they entail a different ethical stance regarding the role of the researched in the research process."""
I am only allowed to put the final version online myself in on year's time. If you don't have access to the article, and if you would like to read it, please do not hesitate to ask a pdf from me: [email protected]
Verschenen in Ruimte en Maatschappij 5 (4), 74-76
De toenemende diversiteit zet ook druk op solidariteit. Bij veel sociologen heerst er pessimisme over het genereren van solidariteit in heterogene maatschappijen. Op basis van grootschalig onderzoek komen zij tot de conclusie dat diversiteit het totstandkomen van solidariteit in informele netwerken en nationale herverdelingsstructuren bemoeilijkt. We analyseren verderop die relatie tussen superdiversiteit en solidariteit en argumenteren dat solidariteit in diversiteit wel mogelijk is. Alleen moeten we die nieuwe vormen van solidariteit elders zoeken dan in de klassieke registers van de historisch gegroeide nationale gemeenschap en staat.
In this article, we reflect, specifically, upon the potentials and difficulties of establishing a 'space of betweenness' between researchers from the North and the researched from the South. To do so, we first sketch feminist theories that describe the research process in terms of a relation or a dialogue. By confronting these theories with our own research experiences as doctoral students in Cape Town, we aim to contribute to a postcolonial methodology in two critical ways.
First, we show that the betweenness of the research process has often been limited to the research encounter itself, whereas it is also necessary to think about the relation between researchers and research participants beforehand and afterwards. To develop a postcolonial research methodology it is essential, indeed, to rethink how we come to our research questions and how to engage with the research results. As a second point, we will demonstrate that a relational understanding of the research process has different implications in critical scholarship on the powerless as well as the powerful. Even though both types of studies can reveal processes and forces of oppression, they entail a different ethical stance regarding the role of the researched in the research process."""
I am only allowed to put the final version online myself in on year's time. If you don't have access to the article, and if you would like to read it, please do not hesitate to ask a pdf from me: [email protected]