Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Property Protocols And The Spatial Relations Of Real Estate Technologies, Ian Spangler

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

The dissertation contributes to our understanding of the technologically mediated, professionally managed social relations of private property, and specifically, their consequences for housing and home. I analyze standards and protocols for real estate data transfer, such as the multiple listing service, arguing that these standards play an increasingly important role in how real estate capital authenticates property relations. Focusing on technologies that leverage these standards in order to manage, exchange, and marketize housing, I show how standards often derive from moral values grounded in rubrics of white upper-class masculinity and national border-making. In making this argument, I draw on interviews, …

Financial Inclusion In The City: Examining The Democratization Of Finance In Boston, Massachusetts, Jessa M. Loomis

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This doctoral dissertation examines how the financialization of the economy affects the everyday lives of low and moderate-income (LMI) urban residents in the United States. Specifically, the research presented in this dissertation provides a critical examination of the democratization of finance by examining financial empowerment programs designed to promote financial inclusion for LMI residents in Boston, Massachusetts. These programs were created in the wake of the financial crisis to promote financial security by training participants to manage their debt, to monitor their credit scores, to avoid predatory lending, and to invest using mainstream financial products.

This research has two significant …