Author: Udipta Boro
Source: University of Twente. ITC: Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. Programme: Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation MSc (75014)
On August 11, 2021, Het Parool headlined “Cruisers have concerns about the future meeting place in the Oeverlanden”. In the coming years, the Nieuw-West district expects an increasing number of visitors to the area – due to urban expansion and a growing need for nature visits and recreation. These developments worry the local cruise community as Nieuwe Meer is the only place where public sex is officially recognized and tolerated.
Due to a lack of historical awareness and prevailing (hetero) norms, cruising is often seen as a negative and undesirable activity. Creating space for this marginalized social practice corresponds to the core values of Amsterdam (read: progressive and inclusive). For this reason, the municipality should take more into account the perspective of cruisers when it comes to managing and maintaining this internationally renowned meeting place.
This article describes small-scale research into the local sexual culture and motives of cruisers in Park de Oeverlanden. Based on observations and interviews, it is concluded that Nieuwe Meer still functions as a popular meeting place where a diverse group of men come together for casual and anonymous sexual contact.
Data is the most valuable resource of the 21st century. Cities such as Amsterdam are adopting a data-driven approach to develop people-oriented services and elevate city residents’ quality of life. In the data-driven development of cities, the use of (geo)data also plays a prominent role. While the rapid datafication of cities can be viewed as a step towards futuristic urban development, cities must take into account the growing concerns on the invasion of people’s privacy, hypervisibility, or biased profiling of the data subjects. Such issues are of particular importance when looked at from the perspectives of groups that have been historically discriminated against. Drawing on critical data studies literature, my research aims to understand such (geo)data concerns from the perspective of self-identified LGBTQI+ migrants living in the rapidly datafying city of Amsterdam. After identifying the concerns of my interlocutors, I ask how far-reaching the city’s data policies are to account for those concerns. I conducted eight semi-structured online interviews with LGBTQI+ migrants living in Amsterdam and collected 32 reports from the Personal Data Commission, Amsterdam between the years 2017 to 2020, to gain insights on the latter. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. From the interviews, three main themes emerged about the respondents’ concerns and actions over the use of their (geo)data: 1) Safety and Convenience Trump Privacy; 2) Awareness of Datafication Shapes Perceived Risk; and 3) Consent is Subject to Power Dynamics in Urban Datafication. The city reports, however, have limited response to the concerns identified. I critically look at this asymmetry in concerns and response through the lens of data justice. Based on these findings, I argue that a city needs more than mere data collection to support its marginalized community; the city must acknowledge and address the unequal power dynamics to build a just and inclusive datafied city.
Author: Udipta Boro
Source: University of Twente. ITC: Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. Programme: Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation MSc (75014)
In this research I investigated the sexual remittances of queer migrants in Amsterdam, as they arrive in the city with their culturally situated notions of gender and sexuality. This influences their evolving queer identities in the city and subsequently shapes the adopted or appropriated gender and sexuality beliefs, norms, and practices they send back to their place of origin.
Below the pink-washed surface of Amsterdam's widespread reputation for being a safe haven for queer people from around the world, there exist the queer migrants who do not fit the bill. It is these subjects that are at the forefront of deconstructing mainstream heteronormativity, as they build transnational cultures which permeate and call into question the Dutch identity. This research uncovers the marginalized queer identities and experiences of those who deserve space and safety in a city which has built its name upon promises of inclusivity. I pose the following questions:
- In the case of Amsterdam's queer migrants, what does the process of sexual remittances entail?
- In which ways do queer migrants in Amsterdam transfer collective and individual sexual
remittances?
- In which ways do migration trajectories shape the sexual remittance process?
Author: Nikolai von Moltke
When you think of Amsterdam Pride, you might think of the annual Canal Parade, which attracts visitors from all over the world. But how does the Amsterdam LGBTQ+ community look at this event, do they feel represented and is there room for activism? Master student Sociology Iline Ceelen researched for her thesis the position of the annual Canal Parade in Amsterdam Pride. For this, she spoke with members of the LGBTQ+ community, participants in the Canal Parade and commercial partners.
Source: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Author: Iline Ceelen (Master in Sociology)
Also interesting to read: this interview with Iline Ceelen about her thesis.
This study depicts the current state of Amsterdam Pride and accompanying corporate involvement in Dutch news media framing, situating Amsterdam Pride in a CSR research context. These days, stakeholders often expect companies to take a social stand, while stakeholder skepticism of CSR is on the rise as well. Discussions about both the societal and commercial value of the Amsterdam Pride specifically have become increasingly present in the Dutch LGBTQ+-community, with some accusing companies of misusing the Pride for their own benefit (pinkwashing). Research on events like Amsterdam Pride and pinkwashing, let alone on LGBTQ+-related CSR, has been limited. This study aims to start filling this gap. Media are known to have an agenda-setting function; what they make more salient, has an effect on what audiences think about and how they think about that, making a media framing study an appropriate starting point for Pride CSR research. Through a content analysis of 162 Dutch newspaper articles from 2018 and 2019, insights were generated about media framing of Amsterdam Pride discourse – and corporate involvement discourse within that.
The results showed that Amsterdam Pride has been framed as a newsworthy, debatable and timely topic, with growing popularity. Emancipatory discussions about representation in diversity, acceptance and activism were the most dominant topic in the media. Articles about Pride programming and history were second most dominant, followed by matters of nuisance, corporate involvement, and societal relevance. These findings imply that, although Pride corporate involvement is a discussion-worthy news topic, other emancipatory issues were deemed to have more news value sometimes: the Pride’s societal existence in its current form needed to be defended or debated first, before jumping to commercial aspects. Zooming in on corporate involvement showed that Pride CSR is usually equalized with companies being present at the Canal Parade, thereby making other types of involvement less salient. Media framing of those activities in terms of company motive attributions and CSR media frames were highly polarizing. Most articles were either very positive (valuesdriven motive attributions; optimist media frame) about Pride CSR, or very negative (egoisticdriven motive attributions; cynic media frame), thereby framing corporate involvement as either a boon or a deterrent for Amsterdam Pride. Pinkwashing was a key argument in some of these negative discussions, showing multifaceted manifestations beyond academic conceptualization, while some articles did display more nuance in their value judgment. Either way, moving forward, companies will have to evaluate how they take their Pride social stance in attempting to avert media or stakeholder skepticism.
Author: Hoogkamer, Ted. (2020, June 29). Framing of (corporate involvement in) Amsterdam Pride A content analysis of Dutch news media reports. Media & Business. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/55294