Lecture by Jan Doering Us versus Them: Race, Crime, and Gentrification in Chicago Neighborhoods
Thursday, 10 December | 15.30-17.00
Location: Online (ZOOM)
About the presentation
Crime and gentrification are hot button issues that easily polarize racially diverse neighborhoods. How do residents, activists, and politicians navigate the thorny politics of race as they fight crime or resist gentrification? And do conflicts over competing visions of neighborhood change necessarily divide activists into racially homogeneous camps, or can they produce more complex alliances and divisions? In Us versus Them, Jan Doering answers these questions through an in-depth study of two Chicago neighborhoods. Drawing on three and a half years of ethnographic fieldwork, Doering examines how activists and community leaders clashed and collaborated as they launched new initiatives, built coalitions, appeased critics, and discredited opponents. At the heart of these political maneuvers, he uncovers a ceaseless battle over racial meanings that unfolded as residents strove to make local initiatives and urban change appear racially benign or malignant.
About Jan Doering
Dr. Jan Doering studies race and ethnicity, politics, and urban change. His research draws on a variety of methods, including participant observation, in-depth interviewing, and content analysis. His book Us versus Them: Race, Crime, and Gentrification in Chicago Neighborhoods explores how residents, activists, and politicians navigate the thorny politics of race as they fight crime or resist gentrification. Additionally, Dr. Doering has conducted research on the politics of interracial marriage, electoral campaigning in diverse and segregated neighborhoods, and urban political cleavages. Currently, he studies narrative identity formation among marginalized groups, examining especially how Muslims experience anti-immigration populism. His research has been supported by the Fulbright Commission, the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec.
Organised by International Lecture Series DPAS and Kenniswerkplaats Leefbare Wijken
Registration obligatory | Register here
Thursday, 10 December | 15.30-17.00
Location: Online (ZOOM)
Contact
Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB | kooistra@essb.eur.nl