Babourkova-Horner, R;
(2016)
Network ghettoes: powering illegality and the politics of difference in Bulgaria’s Romani neighbourhoods.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Abstract
Although technically covered by energy infrastructure networks, Romani neighbourhoods in Bulgaria have over the years of the post-socialist transition period received differentiated provision of electricity, both in terms of quality and quantity. This thesis thus uses the provision of electricity as a lens through which to examine the spatialisation of ethnic difference, urban illegality and, ultimately, differentiated citizenship in the context of post-socialist transformations. Building on theories of citizenship practice, difference and urban spatial (in-)justice, this thesis ultimately contributes to a growing strand of the urban studies literature that, inspired by the post-colonial critique, explores the interrelationships between urban space, subjectivities, infrastructure systems and citizenship. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis, the thesis offers an in-depth examination of the socio-spatial relations emerging through differentiated electricity access in Sofia’s Fakulteta neighbourhood. I argue that networked energy infrastructure stabilises and reinforces racialised social relations and that such relations become spatialised in the notion of the ‘network ghetto’. The thesis thus demonstrates how the socio-spatial relations encountered in the neighbourhood are produced, on the one hand, by various state legacies of infrastructure provision, exclusionary laws and regulations and ethnic assimilation / integration policies. On the other hand, the socio-spatial relations of the network ghetto are reproduced through the practices of ‘quiet encroachment’ of residents on land, housing and infrastructure services. Based on the uncovered interplay between the electricity provision practices and discourses of the state / private sector and the electricity access practices and discourses of neighbourhood residents, I propose three modes of constructing ‘network ghetto citizenship’ as a way to understand the relationship between the state and the racialised citizen-consumers.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Network ghettoes: powering illegality and the politics of difference in Bulgaria’s Romani neighbourhoods |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Development Planning Unit |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1475147 |
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