Producing centrality: dispossession and coloniality in the real estate frontier

• Grant number: 21/07073-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: November 30, 2021
• End date: May 29, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: César Ricardo Simoni Santos
• Grantee: Gabriella Duarte Dantas de Biaggi
• Supervisor: Stefan Kipfer
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: York University, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/04001-5 - Dispossession and space control in the production of the conditions of centrality: Santo Amaro as the southern frontier of the Southwest Axis, BP.MS

Abstract

The present international internship project is part of the master's degree research "Dispossession and space control in the production of the conditions of centrality: Santo Amaro as the southern frontier of the Southwest Axis". That research aims to analyze a current process of centrality production in the metropolis of São Paulo, specifically in the Santo Amaro district. Based on a hypothesis of a new expansion of the Southwest Axis, an area that concentrates the corporate centralities of the metropolis, it investigates the dispossession processes that entail the alteration of frontiers between central and non-central areas. The notion of centrality mobilized in the research involves a sense of domination and decision-making. We understand that in order to create a "safe" space for business, elements seen as "dangerous" are eliminated. And in a society permeated by the coloniality of power, the content of such elements is racially determined. Seeking to enhance our debate on the colonial aspects of the expansion of the centrality frontier, we propose a research internship under the supervision of Prof. Stefan Kipfer. Prof. Kipfer is a reference in the debate regarding coloniality, race and urbanization and his contributions would be of utmost importance for the development of our research questions. This internship proposition is for a six months period as an International Visiting Research Trainee at the City Institute of York University, in Toronto. That position would allow me to attend lectures, workshops and seminar series and contact researchers dedicated to related subjects. (AU)