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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8498-5155
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Anthropology
Year Degree Awarded
2021
Month Degree Awarded
February
First Advisor
Amanda Walker-Johnson
Second Advisor
Jen Sandler
Third Advisor
Susan Shaw
Subject Categories
Linguistic Anthropology | Other Geography | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Justice
Abstract
This dissertation aims to better understand how self-identified trans activists in Atlanta, Georgia find and build community, by using queer and Black feminist community based methodologies such as participant observation, ethnographic interviews, participatory mapping, and auto-ethnography. In particular, I ask 1) How do trans people find and build community, safety, and understanding? 2) How do transgender activists create and enact place making that does not rely on policing and privatization? To create and maintain safety for wealthy communities in Atlanta, Georgia, systems of policing and privatization are increasing. Although developers, city council members, and legislators promote Atlanta, Georgia as a gay friendly utopia of art and culture, privatization and policing push Black, immigrant, queer, and transgender communities to the fringes of Atlanta geographically, socially, politically, and culturally. This creates a paradox of safety for transgender activists and artists in Atlanta. Faced with transphobia, activists work to build interpersonal and community safety outside of narratives of safety used in privatization and policing.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/20409443
Recommended Citation
Capello, Elias, "Liberation and Gravy: An Engaged Ethnography of Queer and Trans Power in Georgia" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations. 2095.
https://doi.org/10.7275/20409443
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/2095
Included in
Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Other Geography Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Justice Commons