Date of Award
2008
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Keywords
Social sciences
Supervisor
Randy Lippert
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This research thesis assesses the workings and governance implications of hospitality and security enhancement teams referred to as 'ambassadors' in the C.-- downtowns of three Ontario cities undertaking urban regeneration efforts. Through the analysis of employee manuals and seventeen in-depth interviews with ambassadors, their supervisors and local police representatives, this study examines the specific ways in which ambassadors fulfill elements of security provision. The central foci of ambassadors' practices are found to be surveillance, the collection and dissemination of knowledge, and legal enforcement through the invocation of municipal law. This thesis analyzes these findings within the framework of the sociology of governance and specifically a nodal network perspective. It is argued that through a dominant 'clean and safe' governing mentality and by avoiding the appearance of security provider, ambassadors police downtowns for a business-oriented order. Consequently, ambassadors can be understood as an innovative and agile—yet comparatively weak—node in the network of downtown security and governance.
Recommended Citation
Sleiman, Mark, "Downtown ambassadors: Exploring a new node in the security assemblage" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8102.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8102