Gentrification and the Struggle for Recognition

This dissertation on gentrification and the struggle for recognition presents five studies that together should contribute to a better understanding of the moral experiences of people living through gentrification. The dissertation starts theoretically. First, by means of a consideration of dynamic nominalism it is argued that gentrification should be understood as a moving target. Secondly, an attempt is made to clarify what struggles for recognition entail exactly. The remainder of the dissertation presents empirical work. It is argued that the moral experiences of the inhabitants of the gentrifying Tweebosbuurt in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, can be described as four distinct forms of misrecognition that cannot be subsumed under the category of displacement. It is then discussed how redistribution, recognition and misrecognition are enfolded in the moral experiences of inhabitants of the gentrifying Quartier Maritime in Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium. Finally, the dissertation presents a comparative case study of resistance to gentrification in both neighbourhoods.