Journal
GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B-HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Volume 92B, Issue 3, Pages 187-204Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0467.2010.00347.x
Keywords
branding; Chicago; ethnic geography; Swedish neighbourhoods
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As the centre of Swedish immigration to the United States, Chicago developed several neighbourhoods with a strong Swedish presence. However, the only Swedish neighbourhood that remains is Andersonville, although few Swedes continue to reside there today - it has become a pseudo-ethnic neighbourhood. Drawing from interviews with neighbourhood activists, commercial, and political interests, as well as fieldwork focused on the ethno-visual markers of the neighbourhood, we analyse attempts of these actors to commodify ethnicity at the neighbourhood level. The process of actively using a Swedish identity in Andersonville involves the use of branding, a marketing concept used by places to promote themselves. This article investigates branding on the neighbourhood level, and also the role of ethnicity in the branding process. Brand managers struggle to maintain the Swedishness of the Andersonville neighbourhood as demographic and economic forces threaten to weaken the Swedish brand.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available