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Coming of Age in Neoliberal New York

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Coming of Age in Neoliberal New York City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 Coming of Age in Neoliberal New York Jennifer Hope Sugg Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/293 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] COMING OF AGE IN NEOLIBERAL NEW YORK by Jennifer Sugg A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 JENNIFER HOPE SUGG All Rights Reserved II This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______IDA SUSSER_______________ ____________________ _________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee ____GERALD CREED______________ _____________________ __________________________________ Date Executive Officer ____IDA SUSSER______ _____KATE CREHAN____ ___HESTER EISENSTEIN__ Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK III Abstract COMING OF AGE IN NEOLIBERAL NEW YORK by Jennifer Sugg Adviser: Professor Ida Susser Thirty years of neoliberal policies have left New York a divided city, with ever- rising rates of income inequality and widening social disparity. Structural transformations associated with global capitalism have led to divergent experiences for male and female youth coming of age in the 21st century. Girls are experiencing greater social integration and social mobility whereas, boys are facing social exclusion and limited opportunities. As young men precariously forge new transitions to adulthood, young women are constructed as ideal flexible subjects, benefiting from feminist achievements, and advancing in the new service economy. Yet in reality, girls continue to face gendered base violence, sexism, and burdens of responsibilities. Through this lens, I examine how gender operates as an organizing principle in young people’s lives today in the Lower East Side (LES) of New York City. This study also documents how people create cultural alternatives that reflect their values and progressive politics and analyzes how this has been down in the past. It offers an organizational case study of The Lower Eastside Girls Club in an effort to increase our understanding of the history and significance of a successful struggle to educate, employ, and carve out a safe space for women and girls in neoliberal New York. It documents how the Girls Club builds upon a legacy of grassroots initiatives in the LES, including the IV settlement house movement of the Progressive Era and Mobilization for Youth of the 1960’s. This study asks: what should an education accomplish in a democracy? (Giroux 2013) It examines the limitations of the Girls Club’s engaged practice of uplift and empowerment in relation to its progressive politics and critical pedagogy. I suggest that education is a terrain in the “right to the city” (Lefebvre 1968), and that the Girls Club, in constructing alternative models of education and community engagement, is locally engaging in a broader struggle for social justice, albeit with limited success. This study concludes with an analysis of Girls Club’s efforts to push forth a community-led development model that puts women and youth at the center, melding the politics of Jane Addams and Jane Jacobs and offering an alternative urban vision. V Acknowledgements First and foremost, I give thanks to the women of the Lower East Side, whose vision and struggle have inspired this research and in whose honor I dedicate this dissertation. I am grateful for the support and collaboration of the Girls Club, and especially Lyn Pentecost. In openly sharing their stories, the women and girls of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, made this dissertation a possibility. Secondly, I offer special thanks to my advisor Ida Susser for her constant guidance, support and encouragement over the years, as well as my committee members Kate Crehan, Hester Eisenstein and Faye Ginsburg, whose feedback and advice greatly improved this dissertation. I give thanks to Leith Mullings, David Harvey, and Blanche Weisen Cook at the Graduate Center, CUNY whose research and teachings have also inspired and influenced my academic work, as well as the late Neil Smith and Jagna Sharff for their transformative research in the Lower East Side. Finally, I give thanks to my grandmother, mother and sisters who collectively raised me to become the woman I am today and my dear friends who have stuck with me throughout my graduate studies. VI Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: A Brief Social History of the Lower East Side 26 Chapter Three: Making History 59 Chapter Four: An Organizational Case Study of the Girls Club 91 Chapter Five: Community Caregiving 137 Chapter Six: Youth in Need of a Mobilization 169 Chapter Seven: Girls Coming of Age in the Neoliberal City 217 Chapter Eight: Aspirations of Mobility 243 Chapter Nine: Critical Education in Arts and Activism 272 Chapter Ten: Alternative Urban Visions 308 Conclusion 333 Appendix I: Girls Club Programming Locations 1996-2014 338 Appendix II: Lower Eastside Girls Club Center for Community 339 Bibliography 340 VII List of Figures Figure 1 Map: Community Board 3 District. 29 Figure 2 Photo: Women Leading the Way in the LES 109 Figure 3 Photo: Women Who Change the World Mural Project 294 VIII Chapter One: Introduction Historical shifts in the political economy of New York, beginning with the 1975 fiscal crisis, had, by the 1990’s, created a crisis in social reproduction brought on by welfare “reform” policies in conjunction with processes of deindustrialization, gentrification, and private and disinvestment in the public services and social welfare (Susser 1982, 1996). State disinvestment in NYC entailed severe cuts in funding for housing, health care, education, job training, job creation, childcare, parks and recreation. Youth coming of age in the first decade of the 21st century have been made to bear the cost of social reproduction in the neoliberal city (Katz 2004). This is an extended case study of women in the Lower East Side (LES) of New York City, who when faced with this crisis in social reproduction, mobilized and formed the Lower Eastside Girls Club, campaigned for the right to education and recreation and envisioned an alternative future for their daughters and for themselves. This study looks at how young people have experienced this crisis, how male and female youth have been differentially impacted, and how women in one NYC community collectively organized to provide innovative educational and cultural programming for young women, their families, and the broader LES community. This thesis argues that the Lower Eastside Girls Club (hereafter referred to as the Girls Club) offers an alternative urban vision. It is reimagining the possibilities of education, as well as social relations at the familial and community level. The research addresses the question: How did a small group of women collectively create a Girls Club and develop it from an all-volunteer staff working in borrowed spaces throughout the Lower East Side into a model community-based youth organization, annually serving 1 over 300 girls and women1? How did this movement emerge, who are the actors involved and what does this initiative mean for the Lower East Side today and for generations to come? The study situates the Girls Club in the context of the political economic policies transforming the city landscape and amongst ongoing initiatives privatizing education at the federal, state and city level. Given this context, I ask what are the challenges facing girls and boys coming of age in New York City today and how is the Girls Club responding, in the way of programming, employment and educational opportunities? Through this lens, I analyze the immediate and long-term impact and broader significance of this initiative. This study documents how people create cultural alternatives that reflect their values and progressive politics and analyzes how effective these efforts have been on the Lower East Side. The Girls Club builds upon a legacy of struggles for social justice, emerging out of a concerted effort and collective vision to create an alternative communal space for women and girls. By investigating the relative success of Girls Club programming and practices over time and considering the contradictions that come to light, we can begin to sort out the lessons learned from this model of critical education and community engagement. 1 There are around 300 girls (ages 8-21) and women actively participating in programming at the Girls Club. More women and girls are reached through special events and community programs. Prior to the “Center for Community” facility, the Girls Club “graduated” nearly 200 girls over the years (graduating 5- 10 girls each year as seniors). The new building has allowed the Girls Club to enrol more girls, provide more programs and employ more women in the LES. As of Winter 2014, the number of girls and women active in the Girls Club has markedly increased up to 300 girls and 100 women respectively. Neighborhood women involved with the organization are predominately, black and Latina; the youth population on the other hand is more diverse (58%Latina, 22%Black, 18% Asian, 2% White). More than one third of girls are immigrants or first generation. 50% of girls speak a language aside from English at home (including Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Tibetan, Croatian). Source: 2012 Lower Eastside Girls Club General Survey with 63 participants. 2 I review the origins, transformation and success of the Girls Club from 1996-2013 and consider its impact on women and girls in the Lower East Side.
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