I a GENTRIFYING URBAN VILLAGE: the ROLE of CHURCH, MONEY
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A GENTRIFYING URBAN VILLAGE: THE ROLE OF CHURCH, MONEY, AND IDENTITY IN A PHILADELPHIA NEIGHBORHOOD A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Keith W. McIntosh May 2021 Examining Committee Members: Dustin Kidd, Ph.D., Advisory Chair, Sociology Judith Levine, Ph.D., Sociology Geoffrey Moss, Ph.D., Sociology Bryant Simon, Ph.D., Outside Examiner, History i ABSTRACT The great economic forces that built American industrial cities also quickly left them abandoned. Scholars have written extensively on the social consequences of deindustrialization. Today, however, a new period of economic growth has again changed cities. A process of redevelopment, commonly referred to as gentrification, has changed the character of former industrial cities, producing an array of new civic tensions. The new people entering cities come for job opportunities in growing economic sectors (e.g., tech, finance, and creative industries) that tend to require higher levels of education. While these sectors grow, traditional working-class jobs continue to dwindle in number and pay. This creates a polarizing force inside cities. While social polarization is often discussed as an abstract macro-level phenomenon, even abstract forces must manifest in specific places. The gentrifying neighborhood is one such place. Inside gentrifying neighborhoods, residents must contend with new people amidst profound change. My research addresses this change. It seeks to better understand what holds modern communities together (or fails to) especially as the fates of residents diverge. Gentrification provides the social context for this research, but the focus is on a specific neighborhood-level institution: the local church. I use a religious institution as the primary mode for accessing the research site for several reasons. Religious institutions are uniquely positioned to directly address issues of community, identity, and morality. That is, at church, residents engage the issues I am exploring. They discuss how to treat outsiders, how to be a good neighborhood, and how to deal collectively with community problems. Moreover, few scholars have considered the role that churches ii play in neighborhood gentrification, despite the prominent role of churches in communities, and despite the overall attention that gentrification has received. In order to access the perspectives of both sets of residents—the long-term residents, and the gentrifying newcomers—this research examines two churches, each populated by a different neighborhood demographic. The first church is composed of younger residents who are gentrifying the neighborhood. The second church is composed of older residents who have spent most of their lives in the neighborhood. While the two churches are divided by age, the real divide is economic. That is, the younger residents belong to an educated and prosperous class that benefit from redevelopment. The older residents, in contrast, are working-class and mostly relegated to watch as their neighborhood transforms, sometimes making them feel like outsiders. The neighborhood that constitutes the research site is Fishtown, an “urban village” in Philadelphia, long known as a white working-class enclave with a reputation for insularity. This research explores how two churches, composed of separate sets of residents, sustain community and deal with conflict in a context of increasing polarization. I use thirty-two interviews, ethnographic observation, and analysis of documents (i.e., historical land use maps and newspapers) to understand the history of Fishtown, and the role of the two churches in affecting and contending with gentrification. The research shows the enduring power of race in attenuating class divisions within the neighborhood. Gentrification is often fraught with racial tension as the gentrifying class is often whiter and wealthier than the long-term residents of a neighborhood. In Fishtown, however, this dynamic is different. The long-term residents share the same predominantly white racial identity as the newcomers. I argue that the shared identity diffuses social tensions but iii raises difficult questions regarding the true nature of the growing cosmopolitanism of the former urban village. Ultimately, the division within the neighborhood partitions residents into two parallel communities. This partition includes the two churches, who remain divided, even as they engage their respective residents, marshal resources for the underprivileged, and participate in a shared faith tradition. I show how the laudable activities of each church are shaped by the economic currents that rapidly change the neighborhood. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to have received much support and guidance through graduate school and the completion of this project. I would like to thank Dustin Kidd, my advisor and dissertation chair, for his wisdom in navigating this project. I have watched Dustin show dedication and passion to his students for years and I have personally benefited greatly from his thoughtful comments and advice. I would like to acknowledge both the faculty and staff in the Department of Sociology at Temple University. Together they provided a stimulating and exciting environment in which to learn. The department fosters a sense of togetherness and I spent countless enjoyable hours building relationships there. The environment they created provided a strong foundation from which I completed this project. There were a variety of research experiences that aided me in completing this project. I would like to thank Judith Levine for her guidance and good-natured attitude even on days that were stressful. Judith is incredibly hard working and tenacious. I learned a great deal from working alongside her. Additionally, I benefitted from working on research with Geoffrey Moss. Geoff and I have overlapping and unique interests that allowed for multiple serendipitous research opportunities for me. In fact, it was through research for Geoff that I found the thread that led to this project. Geoff has been a wonderful mentor as I have worked through some of the trials and tribulations of completing this project. My years spent in the department were also years spent in Philadelphia. The city is rough and lovely, and its scenes are intertwined with my relationships there. Many of the most important relationships were with fellow graduate students. I want to acknowledge the people who made my experience positive and exciting—Cody, CiAuna, v David, Molly, Ewa, Brandon, Kendall, and Rachel. Thank you for making the graduate school experience stimulating, both socially as well as intellectually. While the two church communities who form the center of this research shall remain protected by pseudonyms, I do want to formally thank the congregations as well. I was anxious when I entered the field, but my nerves were quickly put at rest when I met the kind, generous, and warm people that compose both congregations. The younger residents of the neighborhood showed me immediate friendship and impressed me with their bold ideas. The older residents showed me patience and a willingness to open-up and share some of their lives with a pesky interviewer. I am amazed by their dedication and hard work in sustaining community. I would like to also thank my friends and family for showing me support in my graduate school endeavor. Thank you, Susan, Emily, Jack, Kipp, and Zack for your encouragement and support along the way. I am looking forward to placing these chapters on the shelf and starting another with all of you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xiv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................1 Research Outline .............................................................................................................1 Major Questions ..............................................................................................................3 The Context .....................................................................................................................5 Chapter Outline ...............................................................................................................6 Background and Introduction: Chapters 1–4 .............................................................. 7 Gentrification: Chapters 5–8 ....................................................................................... 8 Religion: Chapters 9–10 ........................................................................................... 11 Identity: Chapter 11 .................................................................................................. 12 Conclusion: Chapter 12............................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 2: URBAN SOCIAL CHANGE ..................................................................14 Introduction ...................................................................................................................14