A Voice for Urban Citizenship
Meet Anna Maria
Author. Professor. Ethnographer. Urban Citizen.
Anna Maria Bounds is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College, City University of New York, USA. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Public Policy from The New School. Her first book, Bracing for the Apocalypse: An Ethnographic Study of New York's Prepper Subculture, is a rich ethnography that explores the rise of urban preppers in her city. Her research interests focus on urban ethnography, city subcultures, city tourism, and public space. She teaches courses on urban sociology and social science research methods. She has also earned an M.A. in Writing from Old Dominion University.
During the pandemic, her sheltering-in-place hobbies included overanalyzing the contents of bookcases during virtual meetings, half-hearted decluttering and daydreaming about pet ownership. Now, that we are all free, she’s rediscovered her first love, bicycling.
Urban Preppers and The Pandemic in New York City
Drawing on urban and community resilience literature, Urban Preppers and the Pandemic in New York City: Class, Resilience and Sheltering in Place offers a detailed qualitative analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on New York City and on the philosophy and practices of the city’s urban prepper subculture.
Bracing for the Apocalypse:
An Ethnographic Study of New York’s ‘Prepper’ Subculture
Increasing American fear about terrorism, environmental catastrophes, pandemics, and economic crises has fueled interest in “prepping”: confronting disaster by mastering survivalist skills.
Press
“Making space in our minds and our hearts for the good stuff is the only way forward.”
— Anna Maria Bounds