- Between weeks 8 and 12, each student should provide a weekly reflection (500 words) on the data you have collected to date.
- What data did you collect?
- This week I conducted my interview with Karla and her parents. The interview touched on different themes, which included: job displacement to make way for real estate, language-barriers and access to jobs in williamsburg, advocacy for stabilized rent, mixed feelings of seeing the neighborhood change–on the one hand it helped make it safer and on the other it displaced families and friends. Other themes discussed were the clashing of ethnic enclaves in williamsburg, the loss of the bodega, and the change of williamsburg from being a place that was once undesirable to one of the most coveted neighborhoods in NYC.
- What is your initial impression of the data?
I think that I want to focus more on the paradox or mixed complexity behind gentrification in that for some people of color, like this Dominican-American family, there was some good that came out of it, which was that the community became safer, there were more resources, libraries were built, etc. However, the problem is that those same people may not last long enough to stay and see the positive fruits of that change due to displacement. Therefore, although there might be some good that comes from this influx of resources, ultimately, communities of color are disproportionately negatively affected by gentrification because they are not the ones who will benefit longterm from it.
- How have the data you have collected this week changed/progressed your thinking about your research project?
I definitely want to look at more articles and blog posts that discuss the issues Karla’s family brought up.
- What challenges did you encounter while collecting the data?
The problem of gentrification is a lot more complex and multidimensional than it may seem.
- What are your next steps?
My next step is to edit the podcast and begin writing my 5 page analysis paper.
- 2-3 annotations.
https://www.dominopark.com/historyhttps:/
www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/nyregion/brooklyn-housing-discrimination.html.
Lopez’s Comments:
Juliana, I like the analytical point that you developed this week. Something that I’ve also been thinking about in my own work. Gentrification is not a night and day process, but instead, it occurs slowly. This itself is a type of violence against communities of color. Second, this does present a contradiction (Marxist in orientation) in that capital annihilates space (the city) through urban renewal. While this makes neighborhoods more welcoming to its current residents, it will also eventually lead to their displacement.