Joshua Akers

Biography

Joshua Akers is assistant professor of geography and urban and regional studies at the University of Michigan Dearborn. He researches and writes on topics at the intersection of markets and policy, examining how this connection impacts daily life in inner cities. He is particularly interested in the transition of property markets in the wake of the financial crisis. He looks at the exploitative tactics that arise in such contexts, pointing out the effects on economically disadvantaged population groups and minorities in inner cities. His texts have appeared in “Environment and Planning”, “Geoforum”, “International Journal of Urban and Regional Research”, “Urban Geography”, “Derive” and “Guernica”. Akers is founder and director of the Urban Praxis Workshop, a community organised initiative that works together with organisations and activists in Detroit, specializing in topics of housing and renting. His work on real estate speculation will be shown this summer as part of the programme “Diagrams of Power” at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto.