Constructing Community : Urban Governance, Development, and Inequality in Boston /
Levine, Jeremy R.
Constructing Community : Urban Governance, Development, and Inequality in Boston / Jeremy R. Levine. - 1 online resource (280 p.) : 8 b/w illus. 5 tables. 4 maps.
Frontmatter -- contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I -- chapter 1 Slow Train Coming -- chapter 2 A Seat at the Table -- chapter 3 In Search of Spatial Legibility -- PART II -- chapter 4 Representing the Community -- chapter 5 Following the Money -- chapter 6 Community Power -- Conclusion -- Methodological Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
A look at the benefits and consequences of the rise of community-based organizations in urban developmentWho makes decisions that shape the housing, policies, and social programs in urban neighborhoods? Who, in other words, governs? Constructing Community offers a rich ethnographic portrait of the individuals who implement community development projects in the Fairmount Corridor, one of Boston’s poorest areas. Jeremy Levine uncovers a network of nonprofits and philanthropic foundations making governance decisions alongside public officials—a public-private structure that has implications for democratic representation and neighborhood inequality.Levine spent four years following key players in Boston’s community development field. While state senators and city councilors are often the public face of new projects, and residents seem empowered through opportunities to participate in public meetings, Levine found a shadow government of nonprofit leaders and philanthropic funders, nonelected neighborhood representatives with their own particular objectives, working behind the scenes. Tying this system together were political performances of “community”—government and nonprofit leaders, all claiming to value the community. Levine provocatively argues that there is no such thing as a singular community voice, meaning any claim of community representation is, by definition, illusory. He shows how community development is as much about constructing the idea of community as it is about the construction of physical buildings in poor neighborhoods.Constructing Community demonstrates how the nonprofit sector has become integral to urban policymaking, and the tensions and trade-offs that emerge when private nonprofits take on the work of public service provision.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780691205885
10.1515/9780691205885 doi
2021932711
Cities and towns--Growth.--Massachusetts--Boston
Community development--Massachusetts--Boston.
Community organization--Massachusetts--Boston.
Nonprofit organizations--Massachusetts--Boston.
Nonprofit organizations--United States.
Urban policy--Citizen participation.--Massachusetts--Boston
Urban policy--Massachusetts--Boston.
Urban renewal--Citizen participation.--Massachusetts--Boston
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban.
David Callahan. David Glick. Derek Hyra. Johnson Amendment. Josh Pacewicz. Katherine Einstein. Mary Patillo. Max Palmer. Nicole Marwell. Rob Reich. Robert Vargas. Sarah Reckhow. affordable housing. cities. community consensus. community control. community groups. community partnerships. community planning. democratic representation. ethnography. governance. housing policy. nonprofit diversity. operating support. philanthropy in politics. philanthropy. political voice. politics. poverty. private foundations. program support. racial inequality. social policy.
HT384.U52 / B675 2021 HT384.U52
307.1/4160974461
Constructing Community : Urban Governance, Development, and Inequality in Boston / Jeremy R. Levine. - 1 online resource (280 p.) : 8 b/w illus. 5 tables. 4 maps.
Frontmatter -- contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I -- chapter 1 Slow Train Coming -- chapter 2 A Seat at the Table -- chapter 3 In Search of Spatial Legibility -- PART II -- chapter 4 Representing the Community -- chapter 5 Following the Money -- chapter 6 Community Power -- Conclusion -- Methodological Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
A look at the benefits and consequences of the rise of community-based organizations in urban developmentWho makes decisions that shape the housing, policies, and social programs in urban neighborhoods? Who, in other words, governs? Constructing Community offers a rich ethnographic portrait of the individuals who implement community development projects in the Fairmount Corridor, one of Boston’s poorest areas. Jeremy Levine uncovers a network of nonprofits and philanthropic foundations making governance decisions alongside public officials—a public-private structure that has implications for democratic representation and neighborhood inequality.Levine spent four years following key players in Boston’s community development field. While state senators and city councilors are often the public face of new projects, and residents seem empowered through opportunities to participate in public meetings, Levine found a shadow government of nonprofit leaders and philanthropic funders, nonelected neighborhood representatives with their own particular objectives, working behind the scenes. Tying this system together were political performances of “community”—government and nonprofit leaders, all claiming to value the community. Levine provocatively argues that there is no such thing as a singular community voice, meaning any claim of community representation is, by definition, illusory. He shows how community development is as much about constructing the idea of community as it is about the construction of physical buildings in poor neighborhoods.Constructing Community demonstrates how the nonprofit sector has become integral to urban policymaking, and the tensions and trade-offs that emerge when private nonprofits take on the work of public service provision.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780691205885
10.1515/9780691205885 doi
2021932711
Cities and towns--Growth.--Massachusetts--Boston
Community development--Massachusetts--Boston.
Community organization--Massachusetts--Boston.
Nonprofit organizations--Massachusetts--Boston.
Nonprofit organizations--United States.
Urban policy--Citizen participation.--Massachusetts--Boston
Urban policy--Massachusetts--Boston.
Urban renewal--Citizen participation.--Massachusetts--Boston
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban.
David Callahan. David Glick. Derek Hyra. Johnson Amendment. Josh Pacewicz. Katherine Einstein. Mary Patillo. Max Palmer. Nicole Marwell. Rob Reich. Robert Vargas. Sarah Reckhow. affordable housing. cities. community consensus. community control. community groups. community partnerships. community planning. democratic representation. ethnography. governance. housing policy. nonprofit diversity. operating support. philanthropy in politics. philanthropy. political voice. politics. poverty. private foundations. program support. racial inequality. social policy.
HT384.U52 / B675 2021 HT384.U52
307.1/4160974461