Browsing by Subject "Visual culture"

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    Taken Spaces: Perceptions of Inequity and Exclusion in Urban Development
    (2020-12) Chambers, Abbey Lynn; Haberski, Raymond J., Jr.; Guevara, Tom; Hyatt, Susan B.; Kelly, Jason M.
    American cities are rampant with structural inequities, or “unfreedoms,” which manifest in the forms of poverty, housing instability, low life expectancy, low economic mobility, and other infringements on people’s abilities to do things they value in their lives and meet their full potential. These unfreedoms affect historically and systemically disenfranchised communities of color more than others. Too often, economic development that is supposed to remediate these issues leads to disproportionate economic growth for people who already have access to opportunity, without adequately creating conditions that equitably remove barriers, extend opportunities, and advance freedoms to all people. This dissertation investigates why this pattern persists. In this work, I describe the significance of the differing ways in which economic development is perceived by people living and working in an historically and systemically disinvested urban neighborhood facing socioeconomic transformation near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, and city decision-makers in governmental, nonprofit, and quasi-governmental organizations. The ethnographic research methods I used in this study revealed that: many residents described economic development as a process that takes real and perceived neighborhood ownership away from the established community to transform the place for the benefit of outsiders and newcomers, who are, more often than not, white people; and city decision-makers contend that displacement is not a problem in Indianapolis but residents consistently see economic development leading to displacement. I contend that the type of disconnect that persists between the perceptions of people who live and work in the neighborhood and those of city decision-makers is the result of exclusionary development practices and helps perpetuate inequities. This work concludes with a solution for rebalancing the power between well-networked and well-resourced decision-makers and residents facing inequitable and exclusionary development.
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    Therefore, I am
    (2018) Ridgway-Woodall, T.L.; Setser, Meredith
    My current research explores our daily habits, cultural traditions, and the social expectations placed on women through an anthropological lens. Considering the treatment of all types of women from various regions prompted me to look at my own everyday experiences as a female living in a rural community while working in an urban setting. My research focuses on the exploration of duties associated to the roles of women, and the pre-constructed format embedded in our memories. Through the observation of habitual patterns, places and objects can bring attention to the epidemic of this power struggle, one that re-enforces the misconceptions of women's mind, body, and spirit in our current world. My body of work is a combination of individual endeavors, as well as, collaborative projects, that examine memory as the building block of identity. Much of my research looks at the social and cultural effects of everyday moments. My work includes personalized themes and traditional techniques with a contemporary flare. Pursuing creative endeavors based on my own identity has allowed me to share my stories through multiple layers of meaning and materials.