Contextual Diversity in Gentrification Research

Bibliographic Data

ID2369948
AuthorsThomas Maloutas, Θωμάς Μαλούτας (0000-0001-7564-6226, Harokopio University and National Centre for Social Research, Greece, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume38
Issue1
Pages33-48
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0896920510380950
OpenAlexW2118234489
LanguageEN
Citations received149
References cited77

This article argues against the allegedly inter-contextual character of gentrification within the new gentrification research agenda. The main argument is that gentrification is a concept highly dependent on contextual causality and its generalized use will not remove its contextual attachment to the Anglo-American metropolis. The second argument is that looking for gentrification in increasingly varied contexts displaces emphasis from causal mechanisms to similarities in outcomes across contexts, and leads to a loss of analytical rigour. The third argument refers to the ideological and political impact of equating 'gentrification' with, and projecting its neoliberal frame on, the different forms of urban regeneration across various geographical and historical contexts. As gentrification becomes quasi synonymous with urban regeneration, it becomes less useful to the analysis of urban socio-spatial change and, since the use of this term seems no longer avoidable in academic and broader discourse, its implicit contextual assumptions should be constantly exposed

Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Epistemology · Gentrification · Geography · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Anthropology · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Law · Rural development and sustainability · Urban Planning and Governance

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