Willem R. Boterman and Wouter van Gent, Presentation of the book “Making the middle-class city. The politics of gentrifying Amsterdam”, 15.12.2022, 5pm-7pm

Between 1980 and 2015, Amsterdam changed from a poor city under a radical left-wing government to a city dominated by middle classes. Our central concern is to explain and understand this transformation; and to reveal the mechanisms that (re-)made Amsterdam as a middle-class city. This book asks the question how can a city ruled by the socialist or social democratic Labour Party for a century, and internationally famed for its social policies, become a place where gentrification sets the tone and (neo)liberal urbanism takes hold? To answer, we focus on the interlocking socio-economic and political dynamics that have reshaped Amsterdam’s social geography. We study the institutional and symbolic politics that have undergirded Amsterdam’s transformation, showing that the manifestation of hegemonic middle-class politics are not only about electoral dynamics and new urban policies but also about the symbolic moderation of its negative effects.