Identifying Suburbia: Competing Place-Making Processes And Shifting Materialism Within Global Capitalism

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Lauren Mobley (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Advisor
Brian Burke

Abstract: Materiality has always been central to identity creation, but the focus of this materiality has shifted with the growth of the global capitalist system. Through examining the relationships between identity formation, place, and capitalism, I outline that historically identity has been centered around the materiality of place and an individual’s physical relationship with the land and those who share it. In the last few hundred years, the material base of identity has shifted towards commodities and other material forms rather than a focus on the physical landscape. Suburbia functions as an arena through which to examine this relationship, as it involves peoples’ interactions with land, materiality and the influences of capitalism on settlement development. This study will explore the ways that suburbia functions as a material object for identity formation rather than an attachment to the landscape itself, and the ways that conflicting place-making processes under capitalism lead to the necessity of forming identity through material channels other than place-making, such as the commodity.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Mobley, L. (2022). Identifying Suburbia: Competing Place-Making Processes And Shifting Materialism Within Global Capitalism. Unpublished Honors Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Language: English
Date: 2022
Keywords
suburbs, identity, place-making, supermodernity, capitalism

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