Author Description

This thesis examines the ways community resistance efforts have operated within Kensington Market. It questions how various members of this community have influenced the building/rebuilding of the physical, economic and social/cultural fabric of the area in recent years through their opposition to unwanted changes. This research is tied around several main themes: Kensington's politics of resistance, the challenges to organizing in this community and the impacts of disorganization. These themes are illustrated by way of an analysis of recent examples of disorganization that have evolved around key developments in Kensington in addition to the on-going fight against the perceived gentrification of the area. The problems facing current community organizations are also addressed. I argue that Kensington Market is able to maintain its unique character through an accidental disorganized nature that defies change. This disorder is flexible, always adapting when new challenges surface that threaten the stability of the community.