WPS No.27 | van Gent, W.P.C. and Boterman, W.R. (2018)| Gentrification of the changing state

Rather than seeing class dynamics as subservient to capital, the authors contend that class relations may feed into state dynamics in two related ways: representative politics and State hegemonies. Taking Jason Hackworth and Neil Smith’s seminal paper on the ‘changing state of gentrification’ as a starting point, this paper argues to reconceptualise state-led gentrification to advance our understanding of urban transformation.

To illustrate, the authors present a brief historical and geographical overview of the transformation of Amsterdam from 1982 to 2015, based on policy documents, media reports, archival data, policy interviews and secondary literature, as well as social and political data at neighbourhood level. As the gentrification frontier advanced and working class voting blocs diminished, new electoral politics took hold, which permitted a new middle class hegemony to institute policy and institutional changes to further push gentrification and capital interests.

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WPS No.27 | van Gent, W.P.C. and Boterman, W.R. (2018)| Gentrification of the changing state

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