Digital Commons Network^™

Rethinking Gentrification And Eviction In Toronto: Are Homes Still Built For Living?, Keefer Wong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The significant increase in evictions has become one of the foremost manifestations of the housing crisis in gentrifying cities. However, the lack of collected data at both the provincial and federal levels has made it difficult to assess the distribution and conceptual nuances of this phenomenon in urban cities like Toronto. The current study explores the newer ways in which eviction is used in gentrifying cities and illustrates how any renter, not just the “urban poor,” can be precariously placed. For this purpose, eviction data drawn from the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario was used to explore how evictions were spaced …

Constructions Of Learning Disabilities Within Contemporary Canadian Society: Discourse, Biopower And Governmentality, Bea Waterfield

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Understandings and definitions of disability have changed and varied across social and political climates within North America, affecting the ways in which disabled individuals are treated, represented, and responded to, within various facets of society. Learning disabilities, in particular, have been subject to change and language surrounding the label has shifted across different socio-political contexts. The objective of this research project was to explore and document the dominant discourse constructing learning disabilities within Canada, the various individuals involved with constructing the category of learning disability and how such constructions have informed broader, treatment approaches to learning disabilities within Canada. A …

Rui(N)Ation: Narratives Of Art And Urban Revitalization In Detroit, Jessica Ks Cappuccitti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation considers the City of Detroit as a case study for analyzing the complex role that artists and art institutions are playing in the potential re-growth and revitalization of the city. I specifically look at artists and arts organizations who are working against the popular narrative of Detroit as “ruin city.” Their efforts create counter narratives that emphasize stories of survival and showcase vibrant communities. By focussing on artist-led and institutional initiatives, I emphasize the importance of art in both community and narrative-building.

This research has taken the form of a written dissertation and two adapted projects, and positions …

Dead Men Walking: An Analysis Of Working-Class Masculinity In Post-2008 Hollywood Film, Ryan Schroeder

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Working-class masculinity has lost its steam. Since 2008, a sub-genre of Hollywood films has emerged that depicts the current crisis, and imminent demise, of working-class masculinity in the United States. The 2008 financial crisis has had devastating effects on the American economy, and particularly the working-class, whose precarious economic position has only been exacerbated under neoliberalism. These effects have become the thematic focus of a fringe genre of films, which show how the destabilization of the American economy has incited greater instability in gender relations, and has had an acute impact on working-class men. This thesis proceeds by analyzing how …

Critical Urban Renewal: A Theoretical Construct And Case Study, Michael Courey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explores the dynamics of neighbourhood renewal to understand the actualities, potentials, and barriers for urban renewal to be a site for engaging in emancipatory social change locally and extra locally. The purpose is to assess the potential of neighbourhood renewal as an opportunity structure for creating counterhegemonic forms of urbanism (see Purcell, 2009, 2013) and to identify strategies to strengthen those potentials. These possibilities involve the transformation of social, political, and economic structures in ways that nurture local democracy/self-management, social inclusion, and collective ownership of property and businesses. To examine neighbourhoods in this way I develop the concept …