University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 The House that Miss Ruby Built: Conceptions of Identity, Value and Social Relationships in Limited Equity Cooperatives Jill Siegel University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the American Studies Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Recommended Citation Siegel, Jill, "The House that Miss Ruby Built: Conceptions of Identity, Value and Social Relationships in Limited Equity Cooperatives" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1443. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1443 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1443 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The House that Miss Ruby Built: Conceptions of Identity, Value and Social Relationships in Limited Equity Cooperatives Abstract My dissertation examines a specific form of low-income homeownership in New orkY City known as limited equity cooperatives (LECs). I examine conceptions of property relations among low-income urban people of color as they transition to homeownership in these housing cooperatives, as well as the role of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), an organization in New York City that assists renters in their transformation into cooperative homeowners. Using an LEC located in the Harlem/Washington Heights area as a case study, I explore how residents negotiate their new roles as collective owners, not renters, and argue that these new economic practices transform their subjectivities and social relationships, highlighting the inextricable (and mutually constitutive) links binding race, ethnicity, gender and class. My research uses an immersion-based ethnographic approach conducted over two-and-a-half years that includes participant observation, semi-structured interviews and life histories with various actors in the affordable housing landscape, along with document analysis, as well as content and discourse analysis. I illuminate the larger issues of urban poverty, gentrification, housing/homeownership as a cultural expectation, and the links between urbanization and capitalist logics of accumulation and social organization. My research uses heterotopia as part of its overarching theoretical framework. Foucault introduced the term heterotopia to refer to spaces outside of everyday life that construct their own rules and maintain insider/outsider delineations. Because of the collective nature of LECs, they have the ability to engage in contradictory modes of value by both subverting and upholding neoliberal ideology. These co-ops offer the potential for urban activism as "pockets of resistance" against social injustice and housing inequality. By blurring the private/public boundary, LECs shed light on the intersection between public policy and individual experience, and offer a model for how these contradictory forces can be balanced. Additionally, I analyze why the American Dream of homeownership remains entrenched in the collective psyche despite overwhelming proof of its economic, political and social costs, focusing on how certain non- commodified housing forms have the potential to make this dream less risky. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Anthropology First Advisor John L. Jackson, Jr. Keywords Affordable housing, Limited equity cooperatives, New York City, Race, Social sciences, Urban space Subject Categories American Studies | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Urban Studies and Planning This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1443 THE HOUSE THAT MISS RUBY BUILT: CONCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY, VALUE AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LIMITED EQUITY COOPERATIVES Jill Siegel A DISSERTATION in Anthropology Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Supervisor of Dissertation _____________________ John L. Jackson, Jr. Richard Perry University Professor of Communication, Anthropology, and Africana Studies Graduate Group Chairperson ______________________ Clark L. Erickson, Professor of Anthropology Dissertation Committee: Kathleen D. Hall, Associate Professor of Education, Associated Faculty Anthropology Elaine Simon, Adjunct Associate Professor in Anthropology Deborah A. Thomas, Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies THE HOUSE THAT MISS RUBY BUILT: CONCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY, VALUE AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LIMITED EQUITY COOPERATIVES COPYRIGHT 2014 Jill Siegel This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ ACKNOWLEDGMENT I owe my thanks to so many people who helped contribute to my understanding of the affordable housing landscape and encouraged my research. The Urban Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania supported me both through the Urban Studies Dissertation Graduate Fellowship and intellectual camaraderie. Thank you to Judd Levy for introducing me to the affordable housing industry and to the organizations and people who work within it. My research would not have been possible without the generosity of the residents of Home Together for opening their homes and lives to me, to UHAB employees for educating me, and to all the other affordable housing officials who were willing to talk to me. I extend special thanks to my key informant, whom I call Miss Ruby, without whose friendship and patience this project would never have existed. So many people at the University of Pennsylvania gave me their generous support. My advisor John L. Jackson, Jr. graciously gave me constructive feedback and insights, and helped guide my intellectual development. My other committee members, Kathleen Hall, Elaine Simon and Deborah Thomas, also provided invaluable insight. At the Graduate Center at CUNY, Setha Low and the Public Space Working Group, and Susan Saegert and the Housing Environment Research Group, gave vital advice and helped me develop concepts I elaborate upon throughout my dissertation. I also want to thank my family and friends, without whose support I would never have been able to finish. I cannot thank my parents Joel and Shelley Siegel enough for continuing to believe in me throughout this long process, as well as my sister Jane Greene. Without my colleagues and friends, especially Megan Tracy, Amelia Weinreb iii and Niklas Hultin, I never would have persevered through all these years. Emily Weinstein, Andrew Trauben and Shail Maingi also played crucial roles. iv ABSTRACT THE HOUSE THAT MISS RUBY BUILT: CONCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY, VALUE AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LIMITED EQUITY COOPERATIVES Jill Siegel John L. Jackson, Jr. My dissertation examines a specific form of low-income homeownership in New York City known as limited equity cooperatives (LECs). I examine conceptions of property relations among low-income urban people of color as they transition to homeownership in these housing cooperatives, as well as the role of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), an organization in New York City that assists renters in their transformation into cooperative homeowners. Using an LEC located in the Harlem/Washington Heights area as a case study, I explore how residents negotiate their new roles as collective owners, not renters, and argue that these new economic practices transform their subjectivities and social relationships, highlighting the inextricable (and mutually constitutive) links binding race, ethnicity, gender and class. My research uses an immersion-based ethnographic approach conducted over two-and-a- half years that includes participant observation, semi-structured interviews and life histories with various actors in the affordable housing landscape, along with document analysis, as well as content and discourse analysis. I illuminate the larger issues of urban poverty, gentrification, housing/homeownership as a cultural expectation, and the links between urbanization and capitalist logics of accumulation and social organization. v My research uses heterotopia as part of its overarching theoretical framework. Foucault introduced the term heterotopia to refer to spaces outside of everyday life that construct their own rules and maintain insider/outsider delineations. Because of the collective nature of LECs, they have the ability to engage in contradictory modes of value by both subverting and upholding neoliberal ideology. These co-ops offer the potential for urban activism as “pockets of resistance” against social injustice and housing inequality. By blurring the private/public boundary, LECs shed light on the intersection between public policy and individual experience, and offer a model for how these contradictory forces can be balanced. Additionally, I analyze why the American Dream of homeownership remains entrenched in the collective psyche despite overwhelming proof of its economic, political and social costs, focusing on how certain non- commodified housing forms have the potential to make this dream less risky. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... V GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................