Date Available
6-11-2018
Year of Publication
2018
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Geography
First Advisor
Dr. Matthew Zook
Second Advisor
Dr. Matthew W. Wilson
Abstract
Since 2014, Airbnb has been the poster-child for an impassioned debate over how to best regulate short-term home rentals (STR’s) in New Orleans, Louisiana. As critical perspectives toward on-demand economic practice become increasingly common, it is important to understand how the impacts of STR platforms like Airbnb extend beyond the realm of what is traditionally conceptualized as the economic (i.e., pressure on housing markets). In this thesis, I explore the ways in which Airbnb recalibrates the spatial and temporal rhythms of everyday neighborhood life for people external to the formal trappings of an STR contract. Drawing in particular on theories of authenticity and feminist political economy, I argue that locals’ emotional labor of “playing host” is necessarily enrolled into the creation of value for Airbnb, and is essential to the reproduction of the platform’s business model and marketing rhetoric.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.241
Recommended Citation
Spangler, Ian, "“ONE MORE WAY TO SELL NEW ORLEANS”: AIRBNB AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY THROUGH LOCAL EMOTIONAL LABOR" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 57.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/57
