[slumstudies] Re: Let's Brainstorm!
- From: francesca recchia <kiccovich@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: slumstudies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:38:57 -0800 (PST)
Dear all
I would like to take the chance to thank Lindsey for starting this project and
opening such a possibility: I find it really exciting and a further
motivation for my research!
I am currently based in Hawler (Erbil), the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan - I
teach Urban Sociology, but since our institution is very small I find myself
doing whatever is needed.
I have done a bit of research in the past on slums both in Mumbai and Caracas.
There are very few slums as such in Kurdistan - but there are several
situations where squatting, land occupation and readaptation have created
slum-like conditions.
Coming from a postcolonial perspective I am also interested in the
re-imagination of the relations between centre and periphery.
My main focus is the connections between spatial/ territorial design and social
control as a macro-level, which translate on the micro-level in the ways in
which people adapt and subvert spatial models that are meant for oppression -
one of the main slum-like situations in Kurdistan is a Saddam Hussein's jail
that people have squatted and made into a village while keeping all the signs
of memory of the past (I am working on this case study with photographer
Sebastian Meyer http://sebmeyer.com/)
I also look at ways in which people "make home" or "make sense of home" in he
context of transient/ provisional/ informal settings. I am interested in what
Indians would call Jugad - a form of creative responsiveness that produces
practical and creative solutions in response to situations of spatial, social
and economical hardship.
Best
francesca
francesca recchia
kiccovich@xxxxxxxxx
it +39 338 166 3648
iq +964 (0) 750 7085 681
http://www.veleno.tv/bollettini/
________________________________
From: "Oretsky, Nicole" <oretskyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "slumstudies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <slumstudies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mon, 9 November, 2009 19:12:37
Subject: [slumstudies] Re: Let's Brainstorm!
Hi Everyone:
I am very interested in participating in the Slum Studies Project. My current
research concerns the struggle for housing and environmental justice for the
American ghetto. More specifically, I am concerned with 1) how public policy
contributes toward the concentration of substandard housing supply and the
severe housing cost burden in isolated, low-income neighborhoods, and 2) the
disproportionate environmental burden that poor communities face while they
reap very little environmental benefits.
I am now launching our Urban Studies and Environmental Justice Project (USEJ),
which is primarily concerned with consequent health disparities. USEJ engages
in community outreach; designs and instructs university courses; and conducts
applied research in environmental justice and health disparities.In the current
initial start-up period, USEJ will focus on toxin exposure and housing, with a
particular focus on lead exposure and health disparities.
My take:
Environmental Injustice and Health Disparities
In American cities, environmental disparities are common across racial and
class lines. Inner-city minority and low income communities are
disproportionately affected by air, water and soil pollution. Inadequate
abatement of negative externalities from historical industrial manufacturing
activities, and lack of enforcement of building codes, has left a toxic
environmental legacy. Older and under-maintained housing is a source of health
disparities due to higher frequencies of exposure to lead and other industrial
toxins, mold, and pests; lack of adequate insulation and modern heating or air
conditioning; and health threats such as hypertension and other stress-related
illnesses due to housing insecurity and slumlord activity. In addition, due to
spatial and socio-economic segregation, disadvantaged communities have unequal
access to such environmental goods as fresh, nutritious food; green parks and
outdoor recreation facilities; health care clinics and
quality schools, public transportation, and secure employment.
Research Interests
· The American ghetto and political economic theory
· Urban policy and low income housing
· Environmental Justice, the ‘right to know,’ and health disparities
Best Regards,
Nicole
Dr. Nicole Oretsky
Assistant Professor of Urban Studies
Urban Studies and Planning Program
Savannah State University
3219 College Street
Savannah, Georgia 31404
(O) 912-303-1886 912-303-1886
(C) 917-584-2465 917-584-2465
oretskyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From:slumstudies-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:slumstudies-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Prof. Delario Lindsey
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 3:40 PM
To: Slum Studies Research Group
Subject: [slumstudies] Let's Brainstorm!
Greetings All,
I was thinking, as part of the process of developing the Slum Studies project
and getting to know one another, each of us should contribute a series of
topics or issues about which the group can collectively brainstorm and
discuss. I believe this to be a necessary process as it helps us to
collectively frame the parameters of the project in accordance with our
individual scholarly interests. Also, what better way of getting to know
someone (particularly an academic) than by familiarizing yourself with their
scholarly/intellectual priorities. I have listed a few of my scholarly
priorities regarding Slum Studies below. Submit your own lists, and please
share your thoughts about my topics and issues.
-D
Topics/Issues of consequence:
- Re-imagining the core/periphery relationship
- The relationship between national development and urban development
- The relationship between the urban and the rural (push/pull forces)
- Slum, Favela, Shanty: regional interpretations of profound (urban) inequality
- Crime, Safety, and Social Control in the slum
- The Slum and the Lives of Women and Children
- Cultural Contributions of the Slum (read: the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and
Carnival)
--
Delario Lindsey, Ph.D.
Department of African, African-American and Caribbean Studies
Department of Liberal Studies
William Paterson University - New Jersey
Other related posts:
