Writers such as David Harvey and Arjun Appadurai argue that an examination of the disjunctive economic, cultural and social flows of economic globalization make visible local contestation of official domains (Harvey 2006; Appadurai 1996: 33).
The Blue House offers a local response to the realities of a globally-interconnected society, and an interrogation of the localized globalism manifest at IJburg. The participatory research of members revealed a number of temporal and structural misalignments in world class, holistic urban and social planning, and engaged with residents to imagine alternatives.
Locating gaps in the formal development of IJburg, The Blue House members demonstrated the possibilities of responsive, autonomous and productive interactions in social life. They did not aspire to a consensual model of the public sphere but confronted residents’ differences and antagonisms, creating opportunities for self-reflexivity alongside other tangible and cultural changes.10 The significant conflicts of opinion between members and residents, such as the debates over Pump Up The Blue and the youth presence in the Chill-ROOM, demonstrated the reconciliation of disjunctive private expectations and individual embrace of responsibility toward others. Overall, the communication, empathy, trust and other qualities that arose during the negotiation and establishment of a diversity of outcomes during the five years of The Blue House suggest the generation and employment of social capital and other potential intellectual and physical resources in the re-imagining of life at IJburg.
An artisan who builds and repairs wooden barrels, casks, Sweden Map and tubs. Cooperage. A cooper’s place of business. Cordage. 1 Rope or Sweden Map cord. 2 Anything made of rope or cord, especially the ropes in a ship’s rigging.
