A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City
The steep rise in neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans is commonly presented in starkly positive or negative terms – either romanticized narratives of community influence or dismissals of false consciousness and powerlessness to elite interests. In A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort Stephen Danley offers a messier and ultimately more complete picture of these groups as simultaneously crucial but tenuous social actors. Through a comparative case study based on extensive fieldwork in post-Katrina New Orleans, Danley follows activists in their efforts to rebuild their communities, while also examining the dark underbelly of NIMBYism ("not in my backyard"), characterized by racism and classism. He elucidates how neighborhood activists were tremendously inspired in their defense of their communities, at times outwitting developers or other perceived threats to neighborhood life, but they could be equally creative in discriminating against potential neighbors and fighting to keep others out of their communities. Considering the plight of grassroots activism in the context of national and global urban challenges, A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort immerses the reader in the daily minutiae of post-Katrina life to reveal how multiple groups responded to the same crisis with inconsistent and often ad-hoc approaches, visions, and results.
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A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City
The steep rise in neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans is commonly presented in starkly positive or negative terms – either romanticized narratives of community influence or dismissals of false consciousness and powerlessness to elite interests. In A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort Stephen Danley offers a messier and ultimately more complete picture of these groups as simultaneously crucial but tenuous social actors. Through a comparative case study based on extensive fieldwork in post-Katrina New Orleans, Danley follows activists in their efforts to rebuild their communities, while also examining the dark underbelly of NIMBYism ("not in my backyard"), characterized by racism and classism. He elucidates how neighborhood activists were tremendously inspired in their defense of their communities, at times outwitting developers or other perceived threats to neighborhood life, but they could be equally creative in discriminating against potential neighbors and fighting to keep others out of their communities. Considering the plight of grassroots activism in the context of national and global urban challenges, A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort immerses the reader in the daily minutiae of post-Katrina life to reveal how multiple groups responded to the same crisis with inconsistent and often ad-hoc approaches, visions, and results.
28.49 In Stock
A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City

A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City

by Stephen Danley
A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City

A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort: Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Right to the City

by Stephen Danley

eBook

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Overview

The steep rise in neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans is commonly presented in starkly positive or negative terms – either romanticized narratives of community influence or dismissals of false consciousness and powerlessness to elite interests. In A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort Stephen Danley offers a messier and ultimately more complete picture of these groups as simultaneously crucial but tenuous social actors. Through a comparative case study based on extensive fieldwork in post-Katrina New Orleans, Danley follows activists in their efforts to rebuild their communities, while also examining the dark underbelly of NIMBYism ("not in my backyard"), characterized by racism and classism. He elucidates how neighborhood activists were tremendously inspired in their defense of their communities, at times outwitting developers or other perceived threats to neighborhood life, but they could be equally creative in discriminating against potential neighbors and fighting to keep others out of their communities. Considering the plight of grassroots activism in the context of national and global urban challenges, A Neighborhood Politics of Last Resort immerses the reader in the daily minutiae of post-Katrina life to reveal how multiple groups responded to the same crisis with inconsistent and often ad-hoc approaches, visions, and results.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780773555907
Publisher: McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date: 12/05/2018
Series: McGill-Queen's Studies in Urban Governance , #10
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Stephen Danley is assistant professor of public policy and administration at Rutgers University–Camden.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: The Cult of Community 3

1 The Right to New Orleans 8

2 The Neighborhood: A Neoliberal Contradiction 28

3 Neighborhood Populism and Broken Windows 48

4 Hiding behind Letterhead 66

5 Can NIMBYs Fight for Justice? 92

6 How Far Will Activists Go for Their Neighborhoods? And What Does It Mean for the Right to the City? 121

7 A Politics of Last Resort 143

Appendix 1 A Methodology of Access 155

Appendix 2 Sample of Meetings Attended (Beginning 2010) 165

Notes 169

References 171

Index 185

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