Country of residence

United States

Brief introduction

Assistant Professor of Geography, College of Staten Island-City University of New York (CUNY)

Education

PhD., Geography, 2007, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA)

Academic profile

I am interested in the displacement of Roma/Gypsies/Travellers and the dispossession of their land.  I am also interested in nomadism and/or travelling ways of life; particularly how individuals navigate and negotiate discrimination and harsh laws, as well as how their mobility is constructed as deviant by the media, government policies, etc.  My dissertation research explores displacement by examining how the mobility of Gypsies and Travelers is constructed, constrained, and stigmatized.  Due to a shortage of legal caravan sites, Gypsies and Travelers in the United Kingdom are being evicted from places where they try to fulfill their basic human right to home.  My next research project will examine case studies where nomadic/caravan dwelling Roma/Gypsies/Travellers have positive relationships with their neighboring settled communities, in order to highlight models and best practices that can be duplicated in other contexts and to challenge the dominant form of representation that only discusses hostile relations and enmity.

Publications

• Kabachnik, Peter. 2010. “England or Uruguay?: The Persistence of Place and the Myth of the Placeless Gypsy.” Area. 42 (2): 198-207.
• Kabachnik, Peter. 2010. “Place Invaders: Constructing the Nomadic Threat in England.” Geographical Review. 100 (1): 90-108.
• Kabachnik, Peter. 2009. “To Choose, Fix, or Ignore Culture?  The Cultural Politics of Gypsy and Traveler Mobility in England.” Social and Cultural Geography. 10 (4): 461-479.

Keywords

Place, Mobility, Nomadism, Displacement, Travelling

Contact

peter.kabachnik@csi.cuny.edu browse members list