The process of gentrification was the primary focus of my MCHC 1002 course with Professor Bayoumi. As such, “The Birth of Gentrification” by Loretta Lees was one of the first class assigned readings. A year ago, the class discussed the article in relation to Park Slope. Reading it now, I appreciate the differentiation Lee’s made between “brownstoning” and “redevelopment” because of how interchangeably the two terms are used in texts regarding gentrification. My favorite line, from Lees, was on the irony of gentrification as well-to-do middle class citizens move to the city despite preferring to live in a rural setting, living a more traditional life. In conclusion, I look forward to having a class discussion based on the scholarly content of the article rather than being based on personal anecdotes.

“Mapping the Gentrification Frontier” by Neil Smith was more difficult to understand as the author elaborated on complex economic theories and terms. However, beyond this, my biggest challenge, while reading the article, was visualizing the progression of reinvestment, in an area, without the maps and charts included in the original article.

Question: When did the reinvestment turning point begin in Williamsburg?

Both readings “Theoretical Perspectives on the City” and Black Corona: Race and the Politics of Place in an Urban Community highlight the importance of perspective on urban sociology. In “Theoretical Perspectives on the City”, we see how researchers go through different paradigms, from urban ecology to urban political economy to postmodernism, when they “[ran] out of questions that they could answer using their theoretical framework” (32). Similarly, Gregory states the different theories that come across when trying to explain what cultivates the subculture that exists in the African-American inner-city community including Wilson’s thesis that this concentration of poor was created because of a restructuring of the US economy and the out migration of “nonpoor blacks from ghetto communities” and Gregory’s own theory that addresses state activism and the role that politics play in the formation of the black identity in relation to the creation of this subculture (6).

I feel as if the constant change in theories is only natural in research because as we learn more, our theories evolve to fit our new perspectives. But I also feel that just as conservatives in the Reagan and Bush administration contributed the perception that the subculture in the inner-city community was caused by single mother households, other theories are driven to popularity based on the culture they were created in.

As a previous student of sociology, I understood much of what these authors were discussing and the frameworks they mentioned. It was really interesting to read about different theories and paradigms surrounding urban sociology – especially because it’s been over a year since I’ve taken a class in sociology. I believe that structure is important to take into account when considering society, so to read both these authors analyzing 1) urbanization and 2) black political identity (which are two increasingly important concepts) through a structural lens was super insightful.

Urbanization is a process that started with the Industrial Revolution and hasn’t stopped; considering that a majority of the world’s population lives in cities (UN) it is absolutely vital that we understand the urban environment. I mean this speaking ecologically, politically, economically, and historically. So the first reading, I believe, was useful for students beginning to view the urban environment in a scholarly fashion.

I was (quite unabashedly) more interested in the second reading, however. In my sociology class we spent a lot of time discussing Moynihan and the Culture of Poverty. I spent so much time critiquing this concept my first semester that when I read the Black Corona piece, I immediately accepted his argument. It is ludicrous the way in which black community is portrayed, not only by the media, but by scholars as well. The fact that black Americans are so acutely marginalized, and the richness of their diversity disregarded entirely in favor of false, insidious stereotypes, leaves no question as to why riots like Ferguson happen. Somethin’s gotta give.

Questions:

1) Which perspective is more applicable to New York City as it is today? What are the merits to each?

2) What shapes the way mainstream society views the black community? What are the legacies that led to this? How can this be changed?