Full Description
The World in Brooklyn: Gentrification, Immigration, and Ethnic Politics in a Global City, is a collection of scholarly papers which analyze demographic, social, political, and economic trends that are occurring in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, as the context, reflects global forces while also contributing to them. The idea for this volume developed as the editors discovered a group of scholars from different disciplines and various universities studying Brooklyn. Brooklyn has always been legendary and has more recently regained its stature as a much sought after place to live, work and have fun. Popular folklore has it that most U.S. residents trace their family origins to Brooklyn. It is presently referred to as one of the "hippest" places in New York. Thus, this book is a collection of demographic, ethnographic, and comparative studies which focus on urban dynamics in Brooklyn. The chapters investigate issues of social class, urban development, immigration, race, ethnicity and politics within the context of Brooklyn.
As a whole, this book considers both theoretical and practical urban issues. In most cases the scholarly perspective is on everyday life. With this in mind there are also social justice concerns. Issues of social segregation and attendant homogenization are brought to light. Moreover, social class and race advantages or disadvantages, as part of urban processes, are underscored through critiques of local policy decisions throughout the chapters. A common thread is the assertion by contributors that planning the future of Brooklyn needs to include multi-ethnic, racial, and economic groups, those very residents who make-up Brooklyn.
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction: The World in Brooklyn
Judith N. DeSena and Timothy Shortell
Chapter 2: Mapping a Changing Brooklyn, Mapping a Changing World: Gentrification and Immigration, 2000-2008
Lorna Mason, Ed Morlock and Christina Pisano
Chapter 3: Forgetting Poverty in Brooklyn and the U.S.
William DiFazio
Chapter 4: Gentrification in Everyday Life in Brooklyn
Judith N. DeSena
Chapter 5: "Williamsburg Walks": Public Space and Community Events in a Gentrified Neighborhood
Sara Martucci
Chapter 6: The Environmental Injustice of Green Gentrification: The Case of Brooklyn's Prospect Park
Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis
Chapter 7: Rezoning Coney Island: A History of Decline and Revival, of Heroes and Villains at the "People's Playground
Alessandro Busà
Chapter 8: The Gowanus Canal: Local Politics of "Superfunding" Status
Shanna Farrell
Chapter 9: Striving for Sustainability on the Urban Waterfront: The Case of Newtown Creek
Steve Lang
Chapter 10: Riding the Bus in Brooklyn: Seeing the Spectacle of Everyday Multicultural Life
Jerome Krase
Chapter 11: Brooklyn and Belleville: On the Visual Semiotics of Ethnic Identity in Two Immigrant Neighborhoods
Timothy Shortell
Chapter 12: Constructing an Oppositional Community: Sunset Park and the Politics of Organizing Across Difference
Mark Treskon
Chapter 13: An Ethnography of Local Politics in a Brooklyn Caribbean Community
Evrick Brown
Chapter 14: The Dual Roles of Brighton Beach: A Local and Global Community
Phyllis Conn
Chapter 15: Hood Politics: Charter Schools, Race and Gentrification in Fort Greene
Noel S. Anderson
Chapter 16: Revising Canarsie: Racial Transition and Neighborhood Stability in Brooklyn
Jennifer Candipan, Roberta Cordeau, Mark Peterson, Nicole Riordan, Bengisu Peker, Danielle Shallow and Gregory Smithsimon
