Growing Old in El Barrio

by Judith Noemi Freidenberg

Overview

What is daily life like for an elderly person whose income barely covers basic needs? How is life constrained if that person is living within the same marginal enclave to which she first migrated decades ago? How does the implementation of national policies and programs affect the daily life of those growing old in Spanish Harlem?
In Growing Old in El Barrio, Judith Freidenberg addresses these questions by examining the life-course and daily experiences of the elderly residents of El Barrio. She interweaves the economy of immigrant neighborhoods with the personal experiences of Latinos aging in Harlem—such as Doña Emiliana, who lived in Spanish Harlem from her migration in 1948 to her death in 1995. Freidenberg further links policy issues to social issues critical to the daily lives of this population.
Combining extensive fieldwork interviews with historical and demographic population data, Growing Old in El Barrio paints an ethnographic picture of aging in Spanish Harlem and illustrates the emergence of New York as a city divided by ethnicity and class.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814727034
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

A native of Argentina, JUDITH FREIDENBERG is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Maryland.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Preface	xi
	Introduction: Contexts of Immigrant Experience: Aging in Place	1
Part I	Growing Old	11
1.	From New Harlem to El Barrio de Nueva York: A Social History of East Harlem, 1658-1948	12
2.	"Yo Aprendi de Todo Gracias a la Providencia" (I Learned to Do Everything Thanks to Providence): Growing Up a Manual Laborer in an Export-Oriented Economy (1902-1948)	20
Part II	Growing Old in El Barrio	45
3.	"Buscando Ambiente": Searching for a Better Life in a Barrio in the United States	46
4.	"El Barrio de Nueva York": From the 1950s to the 1990s	66
5.	"Aqui Yo Me Mate Trabajando" (Here I Killed Myself Working): Work Trajectories and Experiences in the Labor Structure	73
Part III	Being Old in El Barrio	99
6.	"La Edad Es Segun la Persona" (Age Depends on the Person): The Meanings of Being Old	100
7.	"Los Doctores No Pueden Curar Todas las Enfermedades" (Doctors Cannot Cure All Illnesses): Illness of the Soul and of the Body	123
8.	"Usted Sabe Lo Triste Que Es Eso? No Tener Quien Vele por Uno?" (Do You Know How Sad That Is? Not Having Someone Watch Out There for You?): Connections and Illness of the Soul	153
9.	"Estamos Pobres de Dinero Pero Somos Todos Ricos" (We Are Poor in Money, But We Are All Rich): Coping with Economic Constraints in Daily Life	178
Part IV	Policy Ethnography of Aging in El Barrio	205
10.	El Barrio: A Metaphor for Social Issues in New York City	208
11.	"Nadie Sabe Donde Va a Parar El Barrio" (Nobody Knows Where El Barrio Will End Up): Local-Level Policy-Making	240
	Ethnographic Findings and Policy Recommendations	267
	Notes	275
	References	283
	Author Index	295
	Subject Index	299
	About the Author	310

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The most important book to date on the life of urban Hispanic elderly, it provides a vivid understanding of life today in New York City's El Barrio. Freidenberg is especially successful in having the voices of her informants not only lay out the social construction of immigrant experience but using these materials to analyze the important policy implications of her work."

-Jay Sokolovsky,University of South Florida

"An important contribution to the history and ethnography of El Barrio. Particularly valuable is the way in which Freidenberg humanizes her subjects who, as elderly and Latino, are often totally ignored or reduced to a mere statistic."

-Arlene Davila,Syracuse University

"A compassionate and knowledgeable writer, Judith Freidenberg chronicles the amazing perseverance and resilience of the population of older women and men who live in El Barrio, while describing the internal diversity and social issues that cut across larger populations. Growing Old in El Barrio is an illuminating and important book."

-Robert N. Butler M.D,President and CEO, International Longevity Center

"Makes a strong case for qualitative ethnography in developing policy. Freidenberg provides an excellent balance between quantitative and qualitative research, enriching both with a project that deepens our understanding of the problems of aging migrants. Its exceptional clarity recommends it for both students and policy makers."

-June Nash,City University of New York

"The author believes that her role is to let informants construct their own definitions and cultural understandings rather than using standardized measure of poverty or relying alone on "objective" socioeconomic indicators."

-Centro Journal

Editorial Reviews

"Makes a strong case for qualitative ethnography in developing policy. Freidenberg provides an excellent balance between quantitative and qualitative research, enriching both with a project that deepens our understanding of the problems of aging migrants. Its exceptional clarity recommends it for both students and policy makers."

June Nash

"The author believes that her role is to let informants construct their own definitions and cultural understandings rather than using standardized measure of poverty or relying alone on “objective” socioeconomic indicators."

Centro Journal

"A compassionate and knowledgeable writer, Judith Freidenberg chronicles the amazing perseverance and resilience of the population of older women and men who live in El Barrio, while describing the internal diversity and social issues that cut across larger populations. Growing Old in El Barrio is an illuminating and important book."

Robert N. Butler M.D

"An important contribution to the history and ethnography of El Barrio. Particularly valuable is the way in which Freidenberg humanizes her subjects who, as elderly and Latino, are often totally ignored or reduced to a mere statistic."

Arlene Davila

"The most important book to date on the life of urban Hispanic elderly, it provides a vivid understanding of life today in New York City's El Barrio. Freidenberg is especially successful in having the voices of her informants not only lay out the social construction of immigrant experience but using these materials to analyze the important policy implications of her work."

Jay Sokolovsky

"A compassionate and knowledgeable writer, Judith Freidenberg chronicles the amazing perseverance and resilience of the population of older women and men who live in El Barrio, while describing the internal diversity and social issues that cut across larger populations. Growing Old in El Barrio is an illuminating and important book."

-Robert N. Butler M.D,President and CEO, International Longevity Center

"An important contribution to the history and ethnography of El Barrio. Particularly valuable is the way in which Freidenberg humanizes her subjects who, as elderly and Latino, are often totally ignored or reduced to a mere statistic."

-Arlene Davila,Syracuse University

"Makes a strong case for qualitative ethnography in developing policy. Freidenberg provides an excellent balance between quantitative and qualitative research, enriching both with a project that deepens our understanding of the problems of aging migrants. Its exceptional clarity recommends it for both students and policy makers."

-June Nash,City University of New York

”The author believes that her role is to let informants construct their own definitions and cultural understandings rather than using standardized measure of poverty or relying alone on “objective” socioeconomic indicators.”

- Centro Journal

"The most important book to date on the life of urban Hispanic elderly, it provides a vivid understanding of life today in New York City's El Barrio. Freidenberg is especially successful in having the voices of her informants not only lay out the social construction of immigrant experience but using these materials to analyze the important policy implications of her work."

-Jay Sokolovsky,University of South Florida

From the Publisher