Violent Crime, Moral Transformation, and Urban Redevelopment in Post-Katrina New Orleans

THE BLESSED PLACEMAKERS: VIOLENT CRIME, MORAL TRANSFORMATION, AND URBAN REDEVELOPMENT IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS by Rebecca L. Carter A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in The University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Chair Professor Thomas E. Fricke Associate Professor Stuart A. Kirsch Associate Professor Paul Christopher Johnson © Rebecca L. Carter All rights reserved 2010 DEDICATION For Evan ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There aren‟t enough words to fully express my gratitude for the guidance, encouragement, and generous support I have received during the completion of this dissertation and my doctoral degree. It has been a long but extremely rewarding process; an endeavor that has unfolded over the span of the last six years. Of that time, three years were spent completing coursework and training at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; two years (July 2007 – July 2009) were spent doing ethnographic fieldwork in New Orleans, Louisiana; and the final year was spent writing up in my home state of Tennessee, as part of a dissertation writing and teaching fellowship based at Middle Tennessee State University. To be afforded the time and the occasion to work as an anthropologist and ethnographer at all is something of a luxury; I frequently remind myself what a dream job and a privilege it is. There are many people that I must thank for the opportunity, and for their help in seeing the research through until the end. So many, that in many ways the finished product is perhaps best situated as a collective and collaborative project rather than a solo venture. With that in mind, I would like to acknowledge the following groups and individuals for their support, assistance, and participation. First, in my academic and professional development overall, I owe a tremendous amount to the Department of Anthropology at Michigan. I thank the faculty for having faith in me, a returning student with no formal background in the subject who had been iii away from academia for some fifteen years. I was lucky enough to fall under the guidance of several wonderful individuals and scholars who, rather than overemphasizing the development of a specific set of theories and methodologies, encouraged creative thinking, exploration, and the search for ideas and intersections far outside the box. I am especially indebted to Gillian Feeley-Harnik, my advisor and dissertation committee chair, who challenged me beyond my own limits to look deeply and broadly, finding the significance and meaning in seemingly ordinary relationships and places. Gillian also never gave up on me, or doubted my ability to succeed, even when I felt I could not possibly take another step, apply for another grant, or write another word. This unwavering faith and support quite literally made all the difference in the world. I owe a tremendous amount also to my other committee members. Tom Fricke gave valuable moral support from the onset, miraculously finding office space and funding when it was most needed, and supporting all of my ideas and passions for doing documentary work. Stuart Kirsch encouraged the initial transfer and development of my research project in New Orleans, based on a paper I wrote for a seminar he led on property and property rights. He also provided tremendously helpful advice on the different frameworks and literature through which I could expand my work as well as practical solutions on everything from time management during dissertation write up to job search strategies. Last but not least, Paul Johnson helped me to access, filter through, and strategically engage with the history and theory of religion in ways that truly clarified my research questions and arguments, without overburdening my work. His warm encouragement on both personal and professional matters was also very much appreciated. All of my committee members were consistently generous with their time, iv giving constructive advice and feedback, and contributing to an incredibly collegial, friendly, and down-to-earth atmosphere, which made the exchange of ideas both easy and enjoyable. In addition, I am extremely grateful to the Department of Anthropology‟s administrative staff for their assistance; especially Laurie Marx, Graduate Program Coordinator, for providing a clear road map from start to finish, frequent encouragement, and helpful reminders to keep my priorities straight and my eyes on the prize. The Department of Anthropology provided much of the financial support for the first three years of coursework as well as my initial and exploratory fieldwork. Additional support came from the Center for the Ethnography of Everyday Life, where I received funding as a graduate student research assistant from Fall 2004 – Summer 2005 and again in Fall 2006. The anthropology faculty also, on more than one occasion, directly supported and facilitated my applications to fund long-term fieldwork, from university and external sources. I am grateful in particular for a Rackham School of Graduate Studies, Humanities Research Fellowship from 2008-2009 which supported one full year of a two-year period of fieldwork. Additional support for dissertation fieldwork came from the Center for the Education of Women and the Social Science Research Council‟s small grants program for Hurricane Katrina related research in the Gulf Coast region. In between periods of funding, I was very fortunate to find employment in New Orleans while I continued to carry out my research. I give my sincere thanks to the very fine folks at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and the New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC). Each of these organizations welcomed me into their fold and gave consistent yet flexible support in the form of part-time employment, creative v inspiration, professional development, the use of documentary and other equipment to support my research in progress, and outstanding working relationships and friendships. Financial and other support for dissertation writing was very generously provided by Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, TN, where I held a dissertation writing and teaching fellowship within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, from 2009-2010. The fellowship was valuable in so many ways and it was also a tremendous relief; providing some much needed stability during my final year of writing in the form of an academic home, a steady paycheck and benefits, office space, library access, and resources for follow-up research and travel. As if this weren‟t enough, I was also warmly welcomed by a very kind and talented group of scholars and academic professionals. I am especially grateful to Dr. Bill Badley and Ms. Janice Lewis in the Provost‟s office. In the Department of Sociology and Anthropology I would like to thank Dr. Jackie Eller, department chair; Dr. Kevin Smith, anthropology program director; as well as all of my extended colleagues. I offer special thanks to my fellow anthropologists there: Drs. Hugh Berryman, Shannon Hodge, Ida Fadzillah Leggett, William Leggett, Richard Pace, and Tanya Peres. I am also grateful to the students at MTSU who took my classes; their contributions generated many ideas and an always spirited classroom discussion, which was productive, stimulating, and appreciated. My time at MTSU was made that much more enjoyable by the company of several additional colleagues, especially my fellow fellowship recipients Freda Halls and Brian Kellum, and the steady friendship of Laura Cochrane. vi I am tremendously grateful also for the unwavering support I received from a close group of friends and colleagues, inside and outside of academia, who offered encouragement, inspiration, supportive ideas, and happy diversion. I simply don‟t know what I would have done, for example, without friends such as Danna Agmon, Federico Helfgott, Karen Hébert, Anneeth Hundle, Bahiyyih Khelghati, and Lissy Thiele. I only hope that I have been as good of a friend in return. I also don‟t know what I would have done without the tremendous love and support of my immediate and extended family. I was fortunate to be in close proximity to family in both my field site of New Orleans and in my home state and dissertation writing base in Tennessee. I am extremely grateful to my father and stepmother, Dr. James P. Carter and Carolyn Harris. Their personal story of loss and recovery in New Orleans was an early inspiration – from them I learned a great deal about courage, strength, and resilience in the face of adversity. I thank them for their willingness to share their story as well as for their help and support during my stay in New Orleans. They facilitated countless personal and professional introductions, provided access to local resources, invited me along to social gatherings and events, and even helped me out of a financial pinch or two when resources were tight. Most importantly, however, it was wonderful to have a strong family base in New Orleans; it really helped me to feel grounded and at home. I also can‟t possibly thank my mother, Gena Hunter Carter, enough for her tremendous love, support, and care, which she sent from a distance when I was in New Orleans and gave up close and personal after I arrived back home in Tennessee. My mother fed me constantly – with advice, well wishes, encouragement, laughter, family vii resources and care, therapeutic porch sitting with iced tea, and the most nourishing of home cooked meals, so that I could “keep my strength up.” “You are going to finish,” she would always say, and it is only with her help that I have. I owe also a tremendous amount to all the other members of my family and extended family, who were most understanding and supportive of my academic preoccupations and limited time. Perhaps most of all, I am grateful to the residents of New Orleans who allowed me to ask question after question, observe them in their daily lives and experience, take photographs, visit their homes and places of worship – and be somewhat nosy and underfoot despite my best intentions.

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