april 2: urban politics
- mollenkopf “how to study urban politics“
- mayer, “post-fordist city politics“
- (short, but useful supplement to mayer) brenner and theodore, “cities and geographies of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’“
a lot to read? maybe, but if you look closer, 2 of them are condensed versions of much longer pieces (you’re welcome!), so it’s not too bad…
____________________
april 4: reclaiming the city/reclaiming space
- magit mayer (from the last class!), “first world urban activism 2013“
- hans pruijt, “is the institutionalization of urban movements inevitable?”
- rina ghose and margaret pettygrove,”urban community gardens as spaces of citizenship”
STOP READING NOW!______——–________——-____–_-_–______
________extra stuffs_________(way too long b/c this is what i study…)
- paul krugman (you don’t have to read this one, but it’s short and from this week’s nytimes, and related in terms of current thinking on cities), “cities for everyone“
- manuel castells, typology of urban movements (short, and mostly just a list of various perspectives on how to study community counter power, but if you’re interested it’s a nice typology)
- lynn (!?!) owens, “from anti-tourists to tourists to tourist attractions: the transformation of the amsterdam squatters’ movement”
- (and, if you are interested in what’s happening in amsterdam lately, and read dutch (this is middlebury, of course you do!), you can read this article about a recent eviction of the tabakpanden in the central city, and the loss of a “necessary laboratory for a better world”) (and, and while we’re talking about evictions, here’s a video from an eviction in 2014, sadly but aptly titled “the state always wins“)
- interested in the current housing/squatting situation in paris? (which is where i spent spring break a couple of years ago (although sadly not this year’s), working with squatting and housing advocates there), here are a few articles by a friend
- here’s one on an art squat with live music that was about to be evicted after over a decade
- and here is one on the activist group jeudi noir, who squat to procure housing for poor and/or immigrant people:
- and, if you are still interested in building occupations (and who wouldn’t be, right?), there’s a somewhat recently opened museum in nyc that covers the history of neighborhood/squatting struggles in lower manhattan, MORUS. here’s a story about the opening of the museum from the ny times (if you make it all the way to near the end, you’ll see a mention of “a tour they ran last year for a group of European academics studying squatting,” which included me, which may be the closest i will ever get to appearing in the times, but no one will ever know because i am not a “european academic”).
- also, a recent story about political efforts to keep lots empty for decades in the lower east side of manhattan
- headed back to europe, here’s a story (auf deutsch!) about the big squatting days festival held in hamburg a few years ago
- and for all your squatting news: squat.net
_____________________
april 9: immigration
- foner and waldinger: “New York and Los Angeles as Immigrant Destinations: Contrasts and Convergence“
- zhang and logan: “global neighborhoods“
that’s all you *have* to read, but you might also find these of interest:
_______________+++++_____________
april 11: more immigration (it’s important!)
- overview of the comparison between nyc and a*dam (it’s short, and not absolutely necessary, but if you feel any desire to get a broader framing, it’s here for you to use, but ignore it if you like. your choice.)
- mary waters, “nativism, racism, and immigration in nyc“
- justus uitermark, jan-willem duyvenduk, and jan rath, “governing through religion in amsterdam“
—–+++++—-
visualizing immigration. it lacks any information on cities, but it’s a nice display of where people come from and go in the world, and kind of fun to play around with, and it looks pretty, too.
____________________
- gentrification and spike lee
- efforts to have the revitalization cake and not have to eat gentrification too… (an LA version, with ties to immigration debates)
- looking for the first signs of gentrification
- gentrify the suburbs (or not)!
(this one’s not from the NYT, but it’s too good to skip)
- “sacking berlin: how hipsters, expats, yummies, and smartphones ruined a city”
- die hipster blog
- gentrification and the creative classes: don’t believe the hype?
- what was the hipster?
- a shorter version by the same author as above, here: “the sociology of the hipster“
- how hipsters ruined paris
_________________
april 23: creative culture and the culture of creativity
elizabeth currid, intro from the warhol economy (here’s a video of her talking about the book, in case you think that’s better than reading (which it might be, but probably isn’t, so look if you want, or ignore if you want. either way, still read the chapter).)
elizabeth currid, “the economics of a good party” (a short article with a little more theory/depth in the argument made in her book)
.
_____________
april 25: saving the city with culture
[[CLASS IS CANCELED. BUT THAT SHOULDN’T KEEP YOU FROM LEARNING, SO FEEL FREE TO READ WHAT WE WOULD HAVE TALKED ABOUT IF I WEREN’T GALAVANTING ACROSS THE FAR REACHES OF SCANDANAVIA…]]
sharon zukin and philip kasinitz, “a museum in the berkshires” — williams college and williamstown!
sharon zukin, from naked city, “a tale of two globals: pupusas and IKEA in red hook” (a related story on zukin’s recent work on yelp and gentrification, which you don’t have to read, of course, but it’s here regardless.)
(if you are interested, here is the conclusion of this book, which touches on some important ideas of authenticity and “destination culture” that we will discuss in class, so read if you want, but i know you are busy, what with your cultural value creating parties and all…)