From old town residents to ghost town activists

 This blog is about the rebellion of Doel as an example of changes in space, time and power

Have you ever thought about the relationship between space and time and their connection with power? How these concepts are much more interconnected than you may realize when you start thinking about it. Doreen Massey made me realize this when we listen to her podcast on social science bites (Massey, 2013) and now we see it everywhere. It is for example very much present in the case of Doel: a small, almost forgotten village between the harbour of Antwerp and a nuclear power plant. Since the sixties there have been plans to expand the harbour, which would mean that Doel has to disappear. Now, half a century later, the population in Doel has declined dramatically, ensuring a deserted street scene, dilapidated houses and closed schools, a ghost town.

The city changed over time, both physically and socially. The social relations between the people in Doel and their relationship with the outsiders of that village have changed. When the first plans about expanding the harbour came up, inhabitants were approached with a sum of money to sell their houses to the harbour. People felt attacked but also had the feeling they had to take the offer before it was too late and their homes would become worthless. A large group of people moved, leaving behind a group of persistent people, who were determined to stay. Gradually empty historical buildings were demolished and left empty spots in the town.

Elias (1994) wrote about a village in which the ‘old families’ who used to live there for several generations identified themselves to be a different social group than the ‘newcomers’. In Doel it was the other way around. How would the people who were left behind in Doel have felt, after so many people with whom they had lived for so many years just left. Do they still consider the ‘leavers’ as part of their group? Do they consider ‘Activists’ as part of their group? According to Doreen Massay social relations are very much connected with space. Therefore, it is very likely that those changes within the social groups also changed the attachment between the citizens of Doel and Doel. The changes in social groups also changed the place itself.

Besides social relationships that have changed, also power division changed. Doreen Massey talked about the unequal distribution of power in different places. In the case of Doel it is very interesting to consider the differences in power between a small village with still 1300 inhabitants in 1977, and a kind of anonymous place like the harbour of Antwerp, which is of great economic importance. At first it seems to be that the inhabitants of Doel became second hand citizens that are less important than people who live in other places, for example citizens from Antwerp.

However, we have explained that over time, the social identity of the inhabitants of Doel changed, and perhaps this has led to a change in power relations as well. The plans for extending the harbour have been halted now, and the town of Doel is ‘saved’. The social identity of the people Doel has been for a large part dependent on the outsiders and how they perceived the place and the people. At first, the people of Doel were just inhabitants of an anonymous small old town. Now, the town is an interesting place and illustrated as a sort of ghost town by tourists and media. More than that, it is a symbol for transience. This difference in sense of place, and how it influenced the social identity of the inhabitants of Doel has given the inhabitants a different position, and different kind of power. From Doel’s case we can thus see very well how space, time, and power are very much interconnected and influence each other on many different levels, as Doreen Massey explains. In this blog we have illustrated how we think social identity too belongs there: both influenced by and
space, time, and power.

Gerdien Achterberg, Francesca Furlan, Linne van der Meulen, Xi Yu

References:
Elias, N. (1994). A Theoretical Essay on Established and Outsider Relations. In Elias, N. &
J. Scotson (1994): The Established and the Outsiders. London, Sage Publications.

Massey, D. (2013) Massey on Space. Social Science Bites. Sage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quj4tjbTPxw.