Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Osbaldiston, N

Titel

Seeking Authenticity in Place, Culture, and the Self: The Great Urban Escape

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 01 02 In recent times, there has been a substantial push by people to escape the metropolis for lifestyles in small coastal, country, or mountainside locales. This book explores the narratives emerging from amenity-left migration using methods developed within the 'strong' cultural sociology. 04 02 The Great Urban Escape The Promises of the Natural World – Escaping the City for Pristine Landscapes A Sense of Community – Cultural Heritage, Nostalgia and Sociability The Culture of Planning – Coding in Policy Initiative The Perils of Seachange – Threats, Unintended Consequences and the Future of Place The Local Experience, Seachange Communities and Mythologies The Seachange Story – Authenticity, Place and the Self 08 02 "This fine book significantly contributes to our understanding of modern social and emotional life. Written from a neo-Durkheimian perspective, it persuasively demonstrates that the contemporary search for a bucolic Eden derives from a pervasive desire for authenticity and self-realization. The unintended consequence is that the 'last real places' tend to evolve into overcrowded playgrounds for the rich. This irony, and much else, is fully explored in a text that is both sophisticated and elegiac." - Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, Boston University "In this pioneering book, Osbaldiston sheds light on the cultural phenomenon of seachange, the migration of urbanites in search of meaning. Through the lens of cultural sociology, he presents a compelling and theoretically rigorous argument for how the construction of authentic places by planners, promoters, and seachangers is thoroughly and inextricably entangled with a sense of the authentic self. The result is unmatched, with Osbaldiston narrating a nuanced and thoroughly engaging account of the impact of seachange on places and on individuals." - Michaela Benson, author of The British in Rural France 13 02 Nick Osbaldistonis a lecturer in Sociology at Monash Gippsland in Australia. 19 02 This book adds to a growing debate on amenity-led migration and how to deal effectively with it across the world. The popularity of the phenomenon means that this discussion will continue for many years to come The book is unique amongst this debate however as it seeks to broaden the discussion across the world and not just within certain locales. From the UK to Spain, Canada and the Rockies, the US and Australia and even New Zealand, this book shows that the same cultural concerns motivate people to leave the city. Areas who receive migrants also experience the same cultural responses to the influx of urban escapees Unlike other books that discuss this phenomenon, this book seeks to interpret the cultural narratives within the movement in detail. It is a 'thick description' without being ignorant of wider sociological theories The book is also one of a growing number of illustrative demonstrations on the applicability of the 'strong cultural sociology' program. It is anticipated that it will speak not just to those interested in place/space such as human geographers and urban/rural sociologists, it will also contribute to a wider intellectual discussion on cultural sociology and its place in the social sciences