Racialized Displacement
By now we have learned that the accumulation of capital follows violent displacements. In this module, you will learn about the racialized character and focus of accumulation by violence; that is, how neoliberal policies primarily impact communities of color. Of course, it is never a neat distinction—neoliberal greed is known to affect everyone who challenges its path. It is more often than not, however, that the uneven distribution of harm happens along racialized boundaries in urban spaces. Some scholars have even argued that racialization may be in part an effect of such unevenness. In this module, you will learn about how urban governance informs the way we experience and perceive race, vulnerability, and harm.
In his presentation, Tony Samara, Program Director of Land Use and Housing at Urban Habitat, introduces the results of a 2016 report on race, inequality, and re-segregation in the Bay Area. The financialization of urban space has expanded to the margins of urban space, to areas more distant from the urban centers. While new venture capital brings wealth and an influx of people, African American and Latinx communities are displaced from marginal and disinvested spaces, and institutionally abandoned and contained in newly constituted margins.
In his presentation, Tony Samara, Program Director of Land Use and Housing at Urban Habitat, introduces the results of a 2016 report on race, inequality, and re-segregation in the Bay Area. The financialization of urban space has expanded to the margins of urban space, to areas more distant from the urban centers. While new venture capital brings wealth and an influx of people, African American and Latinx communities are displaced from marginal and disinvested spaces, and institutionally abandoned and contained in newly constituted margins.
Reading Suggestions
Lipsitz, G. (2007). The racialization of space and the spatialization of race: Theorizing the hidden architecture of landscape. Landscape Journal, 26(1), 10-23.
Shih, S. M. (2008). Comparative racialization: an introduction. PMLA, 123(5), 1347-1362.
Ramos-Zayas, A. Y. (2004). Delinquent citizenship, national performances: Racialization, surveillance, and the politics of “worthiness” in Puerto Rican Chicago. Latino Studies, 2(1), 26-44.
Kirkland, E. (2008). What's race got to do with it? Looking for the racial dimensions of gentrification. Western Journal of Black Studies, 32(2), 18.
Anderson, M. B., & Sternberg, C. (2013). “Non-White” Gentrification in Chicago’s Bronzeville and Pilsen: Racial Economy and the Intraurban Contingency of Urban Redevelopment. Urban Affairs Review, 49(3), 435-467.
Shih, S. M. (2008). Comparative racialization: an introduction. PMLA, 123(5), 1347-1362.
Ramos-Zayas, A. Y. (2004). Delinquent citizenship, national performances: Racialization, surveillance, and the politics of “worthiness” in Puerto Rican Chicago. Latino Studies, 2(1), 26-44.
Kirkland, E. (2008). What's race got to do with it? Looking for the racial dimensions of gentrification. Western Journal of Black Studies, 32(2), 18.
Anderson, M. B., & Sternberg, C. (2013). “Non-White” Gentrification in Chicago’s Bronzeville and Pilsen: Racial Economy and the Intraurban Contingency of Urban Redevelopment. Urban Affairs Review, 49(3), 435-467.