Gastvortrag: Disillusioned by (Super)diversity: Defensive Urban Citizenship (DUC) and Inter-ethnic relations in South Tel-Aviv

The presentation develops the concept of ?defensive urban citizenship' (DUC), which denotes themaking of urban identity inspired by residents' protection of their ?turf' in the face of perceivedlocal threats. These include alongside massive regeneration plans, increasing cultural diversity,which results from both international migration and gentrification. Drawing on the case of thesoutheastern neighborhoods of Tel-Aviv, it argues that while the city has been pushing relentlessly an urban agenda of cultural (super)diversity, residents have developed far less favorable attitudes towards it, fearing alienation, a surge in housing costs, and displacement from their own neighborhoods.Drawing on a broad range of qualitative methods, including interviews, participant observation,media content and discourse analysis, the paper illustrates the disillusionment of old long-timeresidents with cultural (super)diversity, and documents their mobilization efforts to defend theirimperiled spaces against these threats. It concludes by pointing out the analytical advantages of using Defensive Urban Citizenship as a new analytical prism through which to understand social urban relations under conditions of (super)diversity in and beyond Tel Aviv.