Contents
Overview
This week we will focus on gentrification, the concept that we turned to from time to time. The term “gentrification” was originally coined in the 1960s by Ruth Glass to describe the transformation of working-class London neighborhoods into middle and upper-class neighborhoods.
What to read:
Brown-Saracino, Japonica. The Gentrification Debates: A Reader, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bmcc/detail.action?docID=1397036.
Get the chapters here:
The_Gentrification_Debates_A_Reader_-_PART_I_WHAT_IS_GENTRIFICATION_DEFINITIONS_AND_KEY_CONCEPTSFrom Redlining to Gentrification: The Policy of the Past that Affects Health Outcomes Today (2021): https://info.primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/review/redlining-gentrification-health-outcomes
THERE IS NOW A LITERAL MAP OF BROOKLYN’S GENTRIFICATION
What to watch:
7th Street – Josh Pais (East Village NYC)
A documentary about one block of 7th street (between Avenues C and D) in New York City’s East Village where actor and filmmaker Josh Pais has lived since his childhood in the late 1960s. Filmed between 1992 and 1999, the film captures the transformation of the street from a drug-dealing and freewheeling low-rent area for artists and young bohemians to a fully renovated and gentrified spot for trendy art galleries and French restaurants.
What to discuss:
- View the documentary 7th Street about the gentrification of New York’s Alphabet City. If your knowledge of gentrification were limited to the film, what definition of the process would you generate?
- If you could film your own documentary about gentrification based on your personal definition of the process, which people, places, policies, and interactions would you document?
We will discuss these questions in class after watching the documentary.
2 thoughts on “WEEK 11 (04/17 to 04/23): Researching the Community – Gentrification”
If my knowledge of gentrification was limited to the film, my definition would be the process of cleaning up the neighborhood both physically and literally. Because the police really cracked down on the drug dealers that were lowkey terrorizing the neighborhood and the city started to really clean the streets and renovate the buildings for newcomers. If I could direct my own documentary about gentrification, I would start with my childhood first and interview people that still live there after my family moved and get there opinions about it.
Thank you, Kalia, for this thoughtful comment.