Wessendorf
Biographic Data
| ID | 11999 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wessendorf |
| FAMILY NAME | Wessendorf |
| SIGNATURE | WESSENDORF |
| AFFILIATIONS | Coventry University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0932-6635 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 492 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Conditional inclusion? Conflicting representations, configurations and encounters in East London
Urban In/Formalities: How Arrival Infrastructures Shape Newcomers’ Access To Resources
In recent years, scholars in migration, urban studies, and urban planning have increasingly focused on the diversity of arrival processes experienced by international newcomers and the variety of spatial settings they involve. Current research on arrival infrastructures focuses on both place-based opportunity structures and newcomers’ agency in shaping arrival processes, illustrating the interconnectedness of formal and informal infrastructures. …
Urban encounters: Introduction to the special issue
Since the 1990s, social scientists have noted that public spaces in cities have become increasingly inhospitable to the ‘other’, debating whether the spatial component of interaction between strangers is capable of mediating social and cultural differences (Fincher and Iveson 2008; Amin 2012; Hall 2012; Sennett 2018; Berg and Nowicka 2019). The theme of this Special Issue—‘Urban encounters: living with difference in cities’—speaks to a need to ex…
The social front door: The Role of Social Infrastructures for Migrant Arrival
Much research on migrant arrival and settlement has looked at these processes through the lens of 'integration', investigating how migrants access societal realms such as the labour market, education, civil society and social networks, and mostly focusing on individual migrants' processes of incorporation. A complementary body of work has looked at how socio-economic contexts can shape integration and social mobility. This article expands on this…
“It’s a Two-Way Thing”: Symbolic Boundaries and Convivial Practices in Changing Neighbourhoods in London and Tshwane
While there is a considerable body of literature on symbolic boundaries that engages with long-established/newcomer configurations, work on conviviality has only rarely taken this angle, despite its general focus on contexts of immigration-related diversity. This article connects these works of literature by examining insider-outsider configurations between long-established residents and newcomers in two very different contexts of rapid demograph…
Ethnographies of Superdiversity
This chapter discusses the historical emergence of ethnographies of superdiversity and the kinds of methods such ethnographies use. It provides an overview of social scientific scholarship concerned with the effects of globalization on the local level and illustrates how current ethnographies of superdiversity draw on long-standing research traditions of urban neighborhood research. The chapter discusses the political background of these types of…
Commonplace and out-of-place diversities in London and Tokyo: Migrant-run eateries as intercultural third places
In global cities such as London and Tokyo, there are neighbourhoods where ethnic, religious, cultural and other forms of diversity associated with migration are commonplace and others where migrants are regarded as unusual or even out-of-place. In both types of contexts, migrant-run eateries are spaces in which people of various backgrounds interact. In some contexts, eateries may serve as ‘third places’ in which regular forms of intercultural co…
The library is like a mother’: Arrival infrastructures and migrant newcomers in East London
It is often assumed that migrants settle into contexts populated by national majorities or co-ethnics. Yet, new migrants often move into ‘arrival areas’, sites settled by earlier migrants of various backgrounds. Such arrival areas can typically be found at the margins of ‘arrival cities’ which have seen immigration (and emigration) over many decades. Past movements bequeath a wealth of ‘arrival infrastructures’, consisting of institutions, organi…
The Role of Arrival Areas for Migrant Integration and Resource Access
Research on socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods with high numbers of migrants tends to problematise such areas as hindering upward social mobility and further enhancing disadvantage. However, an emerging body of research on arrival areas is highlighting how such areas can provide newcomers with specific arrival resources, helping them to come to grips with their new circumstances. This article provides a conceptual overview and discus…
Ethnic minorities' reactions to newcomers in East London: Symbolic boundaries and convivial labor
In much public discourse on immigrants in Western Europe, perceptions towards newcomers are discussed in relation to what white national majorities think. However, today, new migrants often move into places which are already settled by previous migrants. This article investigates the local experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards newcomers among long-established ethnic minorities in an area which they have made their home, and where they p…
Migrant belonging, social location and the neighbourhood: Recent migrants in East London and Birmingham
Scholars examining different aspects of migrant settlement have long recognised the importance of questions around how newcomers forge a sense of connectedness to the society in which they settle. This article contributes new knowledge by focusing on three factors which shape migrants’ sense of belonging: firstly, the immigration-related diversity of the neighbourhood in which they settle; secondly, the migrants’ social location in regards to rac…
New Migrants' Social Integration, Embedding and Emplacement in Superdiverse Contexts
This article focuses on how newcomers form social relations when settling in the UK, and the role of these relations in regards to their sense of belonging as well as access to resources that support integration. By bringing together the concept of social integration with scholarship on embedding and sociabilities of emplacement, the article demonstrates how a combination of serendipitous encounters, 'crucial acquaintances' and more enduring frie…
Pioneer migrants and their social relations in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in immigration patterns, leading to profound diversification characterized by the multiplication of people of different national origins, migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds, a condition now commonly described as super-diversity. An important part of this super-diversity is individual migrants who do not follow establi…
Pathways of settlement among pioneer migrants in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in patterns of immigration, leading to profound diversification. This diversification is characterised by the multiplication of people of different national origins, but also differentiations regarding migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds. This ‘diversification of diversity’ is now commonly described as ‘super-diversity…
Second-Generation Transnationalism and Roots Migration: Cross-Border Lives
Second-Generation Transnationalism and Roots Migration represents the first comprehensive study of second-generation transnationalism, exploring the manner in which the children of migrants grow up amid travel back and forth between the country of origin and the country of immigration, while at the same time forming social attachments locally with people of other origins. Presenting rich empirical data gathered among second-generation Italians in…
Settling in a Super-Diverse Context: Recent Migrants' Experiences of Conviviality
This article focuses on the experiences of settlement among recent migrants in a super-diverse London Borough. Drawing on theories of cosmopolitanism and the notion of civility, it illustrates how the demographic super-diversity of an area, and the fact that diversity has become commonplace among local residents, facilitates newcomers’ settlement process. Not only do newcomers quickly develop a sense of belonging on the grounds of ‘not sticking o…
Commonplace Diversity: Social Relations in a Super-Diverse Context
Drawing on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork, Wessendorf explores life in a super-diverse urban neighbourhood. The book presents a vivid account of the daily doings and social relations among the reside
Being open, but sometimes closed’. Conviviality in a super-diverse London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in the United Kingdom. It is characterized not only by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities but also by differentiations in terms of migration histories, religions and educational and economic backgrounds, both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article attempts to describe how people negotiate social interactions in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of…
Commonplace diversity and the 'ethos of mixing: Perceptions of difference in a London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in Britain. It is characterised by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities, different migration histories, religions, educational and economic backgrounds both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article describes attitudes towards diversity in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of ‘commonplace diversity’, referring to cultural diversity being experienced as…
Local attachments and transnational everyday lives: Second-generation Italians in Switzerland
Many descendants of migrants grow up in the context of lively transnational social relations to their parents' homeland. Among southern Italian migrants in Switzerland, these relations are imbued with the wish to return among the first generation, a dream fostered since the beginning of their migration after the Second World War. Second-generation Italians have developed different ways of negotiating the transnational livelihoods fostered by thei…
Culturalist discourses on inclusion and exclusion: The Swiss citizenship debate1
‘No pizza without migrants.’ This kind of slogan was used in a campaign in Switzerland in which people of migrant background fought for facilitated access to Swiss citizenship. By emphasising their contributions and their ‘cultural’ belonging to Switzerland, the political activists essentialised ‘the second generation’ as well integrated young professionals. Their campaign was countered by right‐wing parties with posters showing Swiss identity ca…
Sushi-Eating Secondos and Casual Latins: Political Movements and the Emergence of a Latino Counter-culture among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
Migrant youth develop different ways of dealing with their migrant background, some celebrate and reify their ethnicity, some distance themselves from people of the same background, and some situationally create new cultural repertoires and draw on multiple cultural frameworks. This paper describes two different ways in which second-generation Italians in Switzerland publicly celebrate their migrant background. Although they all grew up in simila…
Roots Migrants: Transnationalism and 'Return' among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
It is common for members of the second generation to have nostalgic relations with their parents' place of origin, particularly if they have grown up in strong transnational social fields. This leads some to actually migrate to the place where their parents are from. They expect to find the ideal homeland which had provided them with a strong sense of belonging during their transnational childhood and adolescence. In this article I develop the co…
Future fields: European conference on fieldwork for graduate students and junior researchers
Roots Migrants: Transnationalism and 'Return' among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
It is common for members of the second generation to have nostalgic relations with their parents' place of origin, particularly if they have grown up in strong transnational social fields. This leads some to actually migrate to the place where their parents are from. They expect to find the ideal homeland which had provided them with a strong sense of belonging during their transnational childhood and adolescence. In this article I develop the co…
Commonplace diversity and the 'ethos of mixing: Perceptions of difference in a London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in Britain. It is characterised by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities, different migration histories, religions, educational and economic backgrounds both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article describes attitudes towards diversity in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of ‘commonplace diversity’, referring to cultural diversity being experienced as…
Being open, but sometimes closed’. Conviviality in a super-diverse London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in the United Kingdom. It is characterized not only by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities but also by differentiations in terms of migration histories, religions and educational and economic backgrounds, both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article attempts to describe how people negotiate social interactions in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of…
New Migrants' Social Integration, Embedding and Emplacement in Superdiverse Contexts
This article focuses on how newcomers form social relations when settling in the UK, and the role of these relations in regards to their sense of belonging as well as access to resources that support integration. By bringing together the concept of social integration with scholarship on embedding and sociabilities of emplacement, the article demonstrates how a combination of serendipitous encounters, 'crucial acquaintances' and more enduring frie…
Settling in a Super-Diverse Context: Recent Migrants' Experiences of Conviviality
This article focuses on the experiences of settlement among recent migrants in a super-diverse London Borough. Drawing on theories of cosmopolitanism and the notion of civility, it illustrates how the demographic super-diversity of an area, and the fact that diversity has become commonplace among local residents, facilitates newcomers’ settlement process. Not only do newcomers quickly develop a sense of belonging on the grounds of ‘not sticking o…
Migrant belonging, social location and the neighbourhood: Recent migrants in East London and Birmingham
Scholars examining different aspects of migrant settlement have long recognised the importance of questions around how newcomers forge a sense of connectedness to the society in which they settle. This article contributes new knowledge by focusing on three factors which shape migrants’ sense of belonging: firstly, the immigration-related diversity of the neighbourhood in which they settle; secondly, the migrants’ social location in regards to rac…
Pathways of settlement among pioneer migrants in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in patterns of immigration, leading to profound diversification. This diversification is characterised by the multiplication of people of different national origins, but also differentiations regarding migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds. This ‘diversification of diversity’ is now commonly described as ‘super-diversity…
Ethnic minorities' reactions to newcomers in East London: Symbolic boundaries and convivial labor
In much public discourse on immigrants in Western Europe, perceptions towards newcomers are discussed in relation to what white national majorities think. However, today, new migrants often move into places which are already settled by previous migrants. This article investigates the local experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards newcomers among long-established ethnic minorities in an area which they have made their home, and where they p…
The library is like a mother’: Arrival infrastructures and migrant newcomers in East London
It is often assumed that migrants settle into contexts populated by national majorities or co-ethnics. Yet, new migrants often move into ‘arrival areas’, sites settled by earlier migrants of various backgrounds. Such arrival areas can typically be found at the margins of ‘arrival cities’ which have seen immigration (and emigration) over many decades. Past movements bequeath a wealth of ‘arrival infrastructures’, consisting of institutions, organi…
Local attachments and transnational everyday lives: Second-generation Italians in Switzerland
Many descendants of migrants grow up in the context of lively transnational social relations to their parents' homeland. Among southern Italian migrants in Switzerland, these relations are imbued with the wish to return among the first generation, a dream fostered since the beginning of their migration after the Second World War. Second-generation Italians have developed different ways of negotiating the transnational livelihoods fostered by thei…
Pioneer migrants and their social relations in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in immigration patterns, leading to profound diversification characterized by the multiplication of people of different national origins, migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds, a condition now commonly described as super-diversity. An important part of this super-diversity is individual migrants who do not follow establi…
Sushi-Eating Secondos and Casual Latins: Political Movements and the Emergence of a Latino Counter-culture among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
Migrant youth develop different ways of dealing with their migrant background, some celebrate and reify their ethnicity, some distance themselves from people of the same background, and some situationally create new cultural repertoires and draw on multiple cultural frameworks. This paper describes two different ways in which second-generation Italians in Switzerland publicly celebrate their migrant background. Although they all grew up in simila…
The social front door: The Role of Social Infrastructures for Migrant Arrival
Much research on migrant arrival and settlement has looked at these processes through the lens of 'integration', investigating how migrants access societal realms such as the labour market, education, civil society and social networks, and mostly focusing on individual migrants' processes of incorporation. A complementary body of work has looked at how socio-economic contexts can shape integration and social mobility. This article expands on this…
Conditional inclusion? Conflicting representations, configurations and encounters in East London
Commonplace and out-of-place diversities in London and Tokyo: Migrant-run eateries as intercultural third places
In global cities such as London and Tokyo, there are neighbourhoods where ethnic, religious, cultural and other forms of diversity associated with migration are commonplace and others where migrants are regarded as unusual or even out-of-place. In both types of contexts, migrant-run eateries are spaces in which people of various backgrounds interact. In some contexts, eateries may serve as ‘third places’ in which regular forms of intercultural co…
Future fields: European conference on fieldwork for graduate students and junior researchers
Sushi-Eating Secondos and Casual Latins: Political Movements and the Emergence of a Latino Counter-culture among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
Migrant youth develop different ways of dealing with their migrant background, some celebrate and reify their ethnicity, some distance themselves from people of the same background, and some situationally create new cultural repertoires and draw on multiple cultural frameworks. This paper describes two different ways in which second-generation Italians in Switzerland publicly celebrate their migrant background. Although they all grew up in simila…
Roots Migrants: Transnationalism and 'Return' among Second-Generation Italians in Switzerland
It is common for members of the second generation to have nostalgic relations with their parents' place of origin, particularly if they have grown up in strong transnational social fields. This leads some to actually migrate to the place where their parents are from. They expect to find the ideal homeland which had provided them with a strong sense of belonging during their transnational childhood and adolescence. In this article I develop the co…
Culturalist discourses on inclusion and exclusion: The Swiss citizenship debate1
‘No pizza without migrants.’ This kind of slogan was used in a campaign in Switzerland in which people of migrant background fought for facilitated access to Swiss citizenship. By emphasising their contributions and their ‘cultural’ belonging to Switzerland, the political activists essentialised ‘the second generation’ as well integrated young professionals. Their campaign was countered by right‐wing parties with posters showing Swiss identity ca…
Local attachments and transnational everyday lives: Second-generation Italians in Switzerland
Many descendants of migrants grow up in the context of lively transnational social relations to their parents' homeland. Among southern Italian migrants in Switzerland, these relations are imbued with the wish to return among the first generation, a dream fostered since the beginning of their migration after the Second World War. Second-generation Italians have developed different ways of negotiating the transnational livelihoods fostered by thei…
Being open, but sometimes closed’. Conviviality in a super-diverse London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in the United Kingdom. It is characterized not only by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities but also by differentiations in terms of migration histories, religions and educational and economic backgrounds, both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article attempts to describe how people negotiate social interactions in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of…
Commonplace diversity and the 'ethos of mixing: Perceptions of difference in a London neighbourhood
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the most diverse places in Britain. It is characterised by a multiplicity of ethnic minorities, different migration histories, religions, educational and economic backgrounds both among long-term residents and newcomers. This article describes attitudes towards diversity in such a ‘super-diverse’ context. It develops the notion of ‘commonplace diversity’, referring to cultural diversity being experienced as…
Commonplace Diversity: Social Relations in a Super-Diverse Context
Drawing on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork, Wessendorf explores life in a super-diverse urban neighbourhood. The book presents a vivid account of the daily doings and social relations among the reside
Second-Generation Transnationalism and Roots Migration: Cross-Border Lives
Second-Generation Transnationalism and Roots Migration represents the first comprehensive study of second-generation transnationalism, exploring the manner in which the children of migrants grow up amid travel back and forth between the country of origin and the country of immigration, while at the same time forming social attachments locally with people of other origins. Presenting rich empirical data gathered among second-generation Italians in…
Settling in a Super-Diverse Context: Recent Migrants' Experiences of Conviviality
This article focuses on the experiences of settlement among recent migrants in a super-diverse London Borough. Drawing on theories of cosmopolitanism and the notion of civility, it illustrates how the demographic super-diversity of an area, and the fact that diversity has become commonplace among local residents, facilitates newcomers’ settlement process. Not only do newcomers quickly develop a sense of belonging on the grounds of ‘not sticking o…
Pathways of settlement among pioneer migrants in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in patterns of immigration, leading to profound diversification. This diversification is characterised by the multiplication of people of different national origins, but also differentiations regarding migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds. This ‘diversification of diversity’ is now commonly described as ‘super-diversity…
Migrant belonging, social location and the neighbourhood: Recent migrants in East London and Birmingham
Scholars examining different aspects of migrant settlement have long recognised the importance of questions around how newcomers forge a sense of connectedness to the society in which they settle. This article contributes new knowledge by focusing on three factors which shape migrants’ sense of belonging: firstly, the immigration-related diversity of the neighbourhood in which they settle; secondly, the migrants’ social location in regards to rac…
New Migrants' Social Integration, Embedding and Emplacement in Superdiverse Contexts
This article focuses on how newcomers form social relations when settling in the UK, and the role of these relations in regards to their sense of belonging as well as access to resources that support integration. By bringing together the concept of social integration with scholarship on embedding and sociabilities of emplacement, the article demonstrates how a combination of serendipitous encounters, 'crucial acquaintances' and more enduring frie…
Pioneer migrants and their social relations in super-diverse London
Urban areas in Europe and beyond have seen significant changes in immigration patterns, leading to profound diversification characterized by the multiplication of people of different national origins, migration histories, religions, educational backgrounds, legal statuses and socio-economic backgrounds, a condition now commonly described as super-diversity. An important part of this super-diversity is individual migrants who do not follow establi…
The Role of Arrival Areas for Migrant Integration and Resource Access
Research on socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods with high numbers of migrants tends to problematise such areas as hindering upward social mobility and further enhancing disadvantage. However, an emerging body of research on arrival areas is highlighting how such areas can provide newcomers with specific arrival resources, helping them to come to grips with their new circumstances. This article provides a conceptual overview and discus…
Ethnic minorities' reactions to newcomers in East London: Symbolic boundaries and convivial labor
In much public discourse on immigrants in Western Europe, perceptions towards newcomers are discussed in relation to what white national majorities think. However, today, new migrants often move into places which are already settled by previous migrants. This article investigates the local experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards newcomers among long-established ethnic minorities in an area which they have made their home, and where they p…
Commonplace and out-of-place diversities in London and Tokyo: Migrant-run eateries as intercultural third places
In global cities such as London and Tokyo, there are neighbourhoods where ethnic, religious, cultural and other forms of diversity associated with migration are commonplace and others where migrants are regarded as unusual or even out-of-place. In both types of contexts, migrant-run eateries are spaces in which people of various backgrounds interact. In some contexts, eateries may serve as ‘third places’ in which regular forms of intercultural co…
The library is like a mother’: Arrival infrastructures and migrant newcomers in East London
It is often assumed that migrants settle into contexts populated by national majorities or co-ethnics. Yet, new migrants often move into ‘arrival areas’, sites settled by earlier migrants of various backgrounds. Such arrival areas can typically be found at the margins of ‘arrival cities’ which have seen immigration (and emigration) over many decades. Past movements bequeath a wealth of ‘arrival infrastructures’, consisting of institutions, organi…
Ethnographies of Superdiversity
This chapter discusses the historical emergence of ethnographies of superdiversity and the kinds of methods such ethnographies use. It provides an overview of social scientific scholarship concerned with the effects of globalization on the local level and illustrates how current ethnographies of superdiversity draw on long-standing research traditions of urban neighborhood research. The chapter discusses the political background of these types of…
“It’s a Two-Way Thing”: Symbolic Boundaries and Convivial Practices in Changing Neighbourhoods in London and Tshwane
While there is a considerable body of literature on symbolic boundaries that engages with long-established/newcomer configurations, work on conviviality has only rarely taken this angle, despite its general focus on contexts of immigration-related diversity. This article connects these works of literature by examining insider-outsider configurations between long-established residents and newcomers in two very different contexts of rapid demograph…
Urban In/Formalities: How Arrival Infrastructures Shape Newcomers’ Access To Resources
In recent years, scholars in migration, urban studies, and urban planning have increasingly focused on the diversity of arrival processes experienced by international newcomers and the variety of spatial settings they involve. Current research on arrival infrastructures focuses on both place-based opportunity structures and newcomers’ agency in shaping arrival processes, illustrating the interconnectedness of formal and informal infrastructures. …
Urban encounters: Introduction to the special issue
Since the 1990s, social scientists have noted that public spaces in cities have become increasingly inhospitable to the ‘other’, debating whether the spatial component of interaction between strangers is capable of mediating social and cultural differences (Fincher and Iveson 2008; Amin 2012; Hall 2012; Sennett 2018; Berg and Nowicka 2019). The theme of this Special Issue—‘Urban encounters: living with difference in cities’—speaks to a need to ex…
The social front door: The Role of Social Infrastructures for Migrant Arrival
Much research on migrant arrival and settlement has looked at these processes through the lens of 'integration', investigating how migrants access societal realms such as the labour market, education, civil society and social networks, and mostly focusing on individual migrants' processes of incorporation. A complementary body of work has looked at how socio-economic contexts can shape integration and social mobility. This article expands on this…
Conditional inclusion? Conflicting representations, configurations and encounters in East London
Sociology (22 works) · Political science (20 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (18 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (17 works) · Gender Studies (15 works) · Anthropology (14 works) · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Ethnic group (11 works) · Geography (11 works)