Isobel Ward (KCL) - 2015-16 Students
isobel.ward@kcl.ac.uk

An exploration into the commodification of home and the problematization of movement in London

The principle of ‘home’ is currently being used in discourse surrounding both national security and wealth creation in the form of property investment in London. In media and political rhetoric the apparent natural order of the ‘homeland’ is to be protected; while for some a problematisation and governance of movement means that a space of security becomes a place of illegality. And yet ‘homes’ have become a commodity, as state-developer led gentrification is changing London and practices of developing, buying and selling property are changing. I wish to open up the contradictions between these practices to explore how they are changing the relationship between state, citizenship and conceptions of home, and further to show how they are influencing the social space of the city. The discourse of migration and immigration is in itself a discourse of inclusion and exclusion. Studying the ways that these are played out on the ground, in combination with the forces affecting the built environment in London, are both vital and necessary to open up some of the complexities facing London today.