Touristification from below: Mapping tourism labours and subjectivities in Southern Europe

Objective

"Southern European cities face intensifying touristification, i.e. the transformation of urban spaces driven by mass tourism. Yet we still lack a systematic analysis of how platform-mediated jobs emerging in the last decade in the tourism sector shape urban space and subjectivities from below. TFB addresses this gap by delivering the first mapping and in-depth analysis of these novel jobs (e.g. ""check-iners"", ""free tour"" guides, experiential hosts) and their impact on urban space. It pioneers the framework of ""touristification from below"", showing how workers not only endure but also actively shape tourism-led urban change from the ground up. The project pursues four objectives: 1) mapping and categorising emerging forms of tourism labour, producing the first comparative inventory of these largely undocumented jobs; 2) analysing workers’ everyday practices; 3) exploring how these practices generate new urban subjectivities; and 4) theorising ""touristification from below"", bridging micro-level ethnography and macro-level urban governance. Methods include comparative ethnography with flexible shadowing of ≈20 workers, 60 walking/narrative interviews, deep mapping, and analysis with ATLAS.ti and ArcGIS across Naples, Barcelona and Lisbon. Hosted by UB Department of Anthropology under Prof. Susana Narotzky (ERC Grassroots Economics), the project integrates urban geography with the anthropology of work. A secondment at IGOT–Lisbon (Prof. Brito Henriques, co-supervision Prof. Luís Mendes) broadens the comparative scope and embeds the project in leading tourism geography networks. Results will deliver open datasets, high-impact publications, GIS maps, multilingual policy briefs, and participatory workshops, informing fairer regulation of platform labour and tourism governance (EU Platform Work Directive, SDGs 1, 5, 8, 11). The fellowship consolidates my profile as a leading comparative urban ethnographer, enhancing competitiveness for PI roles and tenure-track positions."