English - Fenneke Wekker; Onderzoek, Tekst & Advies

Fenneke Wekker (1972) is political sociologist, author and advisor.

Clear language and sharp analyses.

Policy advice.

Text and presentations for a broad audience.

Being a city-ethnographer and project leader of participatory research projects with urban dwellers, Fenneke focuses on 'living with differences' in big cities. How do people, with various backgrounds, life styles and needs, live together in a densely populated area? How do people make themselves at home in a place they by definition have to share with 'strangers'? And, what are feelings of 'home'? Can urban- or neighborhood policies contribute to a sense of home of diverse populations within the city? And what part do - or can - social organizations, care-institutions, housing corporations and neighborhood centers play to achieve that?

Over the last decade, Fenneke developed and conducted numerous research projects in collaboration with, among others, housing corporation Ymere, artists' collective 5e Kwartier, University of Amsterdam and Ben Sajet Centrum.

Currently, Fenneke is writing her dissertation at the University of Amsterdam. Her PhD-project is concerned with the experiences of 'vulnerable residents', who are helped by municipalities, social organizations and housing corporations to break through their social isolation and actively participate in the local community. Why are the best intentions from the top-down, so often met with resistance from the people who are assumed to 'need the help the most'?

Keywords: the possibilities and pitfalls of inclusivity, top-down community building, creating informal care networks, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, stigmatisation and unintended/unconscious facilitating of inequality.

Besides her work as ethnographer and publicist, Fenneke translates social scientific insights to a broader audience: via theatre, presentations, workshops and blogs.

In 2016, she started the writers' platform NIEMANDSLAND, together with Jan Willem Duyvendak, Fatiha El-Hajjari, Josien Arts, Yannick Coenders and Lea Klarenbeek. This platform offers a free space for anyone who wishes to express doubts and concerns about social phenomenons, in an era where everyone seems to know best' on social media. Short, clear columns, that leave the reader with questions rather than answers.