Local and Urban Politics

E11 - Drawing Boundaries: Identity, Migration, and Community

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Sandra Breux (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Aaron Moore (University of Winnipeg)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Sandra Breux (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Political and contextual conditions of emergence for intentional urban community : “Oranssi”, a Finnish case study: Nathan Mascaro (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique - Centre Culture Urbanisation et Société), Sandra Breux (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique - Centre Culture Urbanisation et Société)
Abstract: Intentional communities (IC) can be seen as a restricted group, without family ties, who share the same living space or a set of dwellings in geographical proximity within north countries and in a delimited spatio-temporal context. Their members come together around a voluntary collective project and commons. While little is known about how IC are formed, only 10% manage to survive for at least one year (Leafe Christian, 2015) – communities’ conditions for proper internal functioning can be explained by planning works (Sager, 2018) and by normative local context (Boyer, 2015) but each community is defined by the aspirations of its own group (Miller, 2000). How do internal and external dynamics constrain the durability of affordable, self-managed alternative housing? The aim of this paper is to discuss, through a case study, the role played by internal community dynamics and to identify, the economical and political dynamics who constraint the inexistence of IC in an urban context. We discuss these questions

Where Belongs with Where? What Redistricting in New York State Tells Us About Rural Identity & Place: Jackson D. Todd (Western University of Ontario), Zack Taylor (Western University of Ontario)
Abstract: Even as America becomes more urbanized, some scholars have pointed to a rise in rural consciousness as a factor in recent conservative populist movements from the Tea Party to Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. This paper argues that rural identity is becoming more politically salient because ‘rurality’ is evolving; rural identity is less concerned with tangible aspects of space and more concerned with individuals’ interpretations of the relationships between places. Using upstate New York as a case study, this paper looks at the ways that participants in the state’s Congressional redistricting cycles from the 1980s to the 2020s articulated claims about rural identity. As more New Yorkers move into urban and suburban areas, and because mapmakers are forced to draw districts with equal numbers of constituents, it has become more challenging to draw rural-only districts. Mapmakers struggle to balance keeping ‘communities of interest’ intact while making districts that are compact and manageable for representatives. Within these hearing transcripts, rural constituents’ comments illustrate a shifting notion of rurality, shaped by a blend of symbolic and material factors and increasingly focused on resentment toward urban areas rather than on traditional conceptions of rurality tied to agricultural production or a connection to the land. These findings illuminate how rurality is evolving to become a salient political identity that can be used to fuel populist movements.

Drawing boundaries and moving people: how best to shape political equilibria in the domestic and international spheres: Lawrence Anderson (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Abstract: This paper explores the functional similarity between the movement of borders—whether through political consolidation or separation—and the movement of people via migration, both of which can influence political outcomes within a polity. The shifting of borders is a well-established strategy for overcoming sub-optimal political equilibria, whether through the unification of previously separate political units or the division of a previously-unified polity. By altering the territorial configuration of a state, this process can create a critical mass of like-minded individuals, thereby enhancing political coherence. This dynamic is observable in both international and domestic contexts. But can the movement of people achieve similar political effects? This paper argues that it can, and investigates how in- and out-migration may function analogously to border changes in shaping political alignment and stability. Drawing on case studies from the US, Canada, and other examples, the paper examines this dynamic in both international and domestic realms, offering theoretical insights into how people and borders interact to influence political equilibria.

Different Definitions, Different Outcomes: To What Extent is Rural / Urban Polarization a Statistical Artefact?: Dionne Pohler (University of Saskatchewan), Pigeon Marc-Andre (University of Saskatchewan), Clark Banack (University of Alberta), Laticia Chapman (University of Alberta)
Abstract: Recent provincial elections in Saskatchewan and British Columbia appear to point to a growing rural-urban divide that until recently, was mostly associated with the United States. Scholars have explored this topic in detail, pointing out for example how rural identities can supersede other identifiers and have profound political affects. In this paper, we ask a simple question with potentially important implications: How much do different definitions of rurality affect the way we understand rural? Based on similar work out of the United States, we predict that these definitional differences matter a lot in Canada, and that different empirical conceptualizations will change what we think we know about rural people and spaces. To test our predictions, in 2024 we surveyed a nationally representative probability-based sample of 3,000 rural and urban Canadians. Our survey captures four measures of rural – postal code, population density, distance from census metropolitan areas, and identity-based. In our paper, we explore the effects of each conceptualization and measurement on a variety of outcomes, including political views, trust in institutions and others, media usage, and access to services.