Constanze von Wrangel
As a current PhD student at the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University Bochum, my qualification is based on my multidisciplinary academic background in political science and geography (B.A.) as well as urban and regional development (M.A.). During my studies, I dealt with different regional policy instruments and governance models, e.g. for the promotion of structurally weak urban districts or regions. In both theses I conducted and analysed qualitative interviews and was also involved in a comprehensive qualitative research project on the significance of cultural events in disadvantaged urban districts, which resulted in a joint publication. It is important to me to strengthen narratives “from below” in my research, which is why my PhD project uses narrative interviews to examine the significance of industrial culture from the perspective of different voices of the population and contrast them with perspectives of responsible actors.
Identitätsstiftung über regionale Kulturpolitik? Kulturpolitische Initiativen im Ruhrgebiet und ihre Resonanz in der Bevölkerung seit den 2000er Jahren
In her PhD project, Constanze von Wrangel examines the significance of industrial heritage for the formation of regional identity in the Ruhr region after deindustrialization. On the one hand, she refers to the industrial sites themselves, which are an important material resource for the regional self-image of the region. On the other hand, she examines the reception of public narratives and myths that are fed by the history of the coal and steel industry and that form the construction of present and future regional identities as an immaterial resource. In order to approach the complex process of regional identity formation, she contrasts the official narratives about the industrial heritage in the Ruhr region with the reception by the local population and also takes into account the individual biographical references of her interview partners.
