Geomedia Speaker Series - Urban economies of display

Hipsters

URBAN ECONOMIES OF DISPLAY - DIGITAL SEMINAR

This digital seminar is part of the Geomedia Speaker Series, which explores global perspectives on media and urban transformations. Under the title "Urban Economies of Display," we will explore how cities and their economies are increasingly shaped by displays of identity, authenticity, and social media.

The panel will feature three distinguished scholars presenting their latest works. John D. Boy and Justus Uitermark will discuss their book, On Display, which examines how Instagram influences personal identities, social relations, and urban subcultures, reshaping our understanding of social status and inequality. Following this, Alessandro Gerosa will present The Hipster Economy, which explores the growing pursuit of authenticity in modern capitalism and its impact on urban development, highlighting the revival of artisanal production and its aesthetic and economic implications.

SCHEDULE

14.00-14.10

Introduction by André Jansson, Geomedia Centre Director

14.10-10.40

John D. Boy and Justus Uitermark: “On Display. Instagram, the Self and the City”

14.40-15.10

Alessandro Gerosa: “The Hipster Economy”

15.10-15.3

Panel discussion and Q&A

ABSTRACTS AND BIOS

ON DISPLAY. INSTAGRAM, THE SELF AND THE CITY

John D. Boy and Justus Uitermark

Two billion people around the world use Instagram, but so far social scientists have done little research on the platform. Despite Instagram's reputation for shallowness, the ongoing self-presentation it demands confronts users with profound dilemmas. Who are we? What do we want to show of ourselves? What do we aspire to be?

On Display is a book about how people remake their worlds through social media. John D. Boy and Justus Uitermark provide an encompassing account of how a platform that is unfailingly polished and ruthlessly judgmental shapes us and our environments. They examine how personalities, relations, social movements, urban subcultures, and city streets change as they are represented on Instagram. Interviews and ethnographic vignettes render an intimate account of the desires and anxieties that animate the platform. Just as importantly, Boy and Uitermark reveal how Instagram is implicated in social inequalities.

While previous accounts have argued that social media promote polarization, On Display shows that this is not the case for Instagram where users belong to large and diverse networks, compelling them to take many, often contradictory expectations into account. This means users shy away from producing statements or images that may cause offense as a way to preserve their public image and their social connections. Drawing on sociological theory, long-term qualitative inquiry in Amsterdam, and computational analyses, Boy and Uitermark argue that grasping the power of Instagram—and other social media platforms—requires seeing them not as digital networks of communication and sharing, but as a stage for the expression and affirmation of social status.

John D. Boy, PhD, is an assistant professor of sociology (with tenure) at Leiden University. During the 2024-25 academic year, he is a fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study.

Justus Uitermark, Dr., is a professor of urban geography at the University of Amsterdam, where he also serves as academic director of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research. He is the author of Dynamics of Power in Dutch Integration Politics (Amsterdam University Press, 2012), Cities and Social Movements (with Walter Nicholls, Wiley, 2017), On Display (with John Boy, Oxford University Press, 2024), and Seeing Like a Platform (with Petter Törnberg, Routledge, forthcoming).

THE HIPSTER ECONOMY

Alessandro Gerosa

The Merriam-Webster dictionary has chosen "authentic" as the word of the year for 2023. To be authentic has become an aspiration and an imperative. The notion of authenticity shapes the consumption habits of individuals in the most diverse contexts such as food and drinks, clothing, music, tourism and the digital sphere, even leading to the resurgence of apparently obsolescent modes of production such as craft. It also significantly transforms urban areas, their local economies and development.

The Hipster Economy argues that the pursuit of authenticity has been a driving force in Western societies from the rise of capitalism and industrialization to the present day. The book illustrates how authenticity has become a key value guiding consumer preferences in modern capitalism and introduces a new way of understanding the aesthetic regimes of consumption. Additionally, it provides an in-depth analysis of the resurgence of neo-craft industries, their entrepreneurs, and the economic ideals that support them. Lastly, it delves into how the hipster economy influences urban spaces, leading to new patterns of urban development with varying consequences.

Alessandro Gerosa, PhD,  is an assistant professor in cultural sociology at the University of Milan. His research contributes to a better understanding of how people seek authentic and meaningful lives in late modern capitalism. His main work deals with the resurgence of artisanal forms of production and consumption, unpacking the tensions involved in this pursuit and the relationship between individual, collective, and structural dimensions. Last but not least, he also researches digital cultures.

Hipsters