DOWN AND OUT IN MUSIC CITY: THE URBAN STRUCTURATION OF HOMELESSNESS By Damian T. Williams Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Sociology December, 2010 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Richard Lloyd Professor Brooke Ackerly Professor Daniel Cornfield Professor Larry Isaac Copyright © 2010 Damian Terry Williams To the love of my life, Helene Di Iorio, the sweetest person I have ever known and To Nashville’s unhoused men, there but good fortune go I iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have helped me complete this project. Among these are the members of my dissertation committee, who gave me the support, guidance and academic freedom necessary to develop an idiosyncratic and inchoate idea into an intelligible piece of sociological craftsmanship. Richard Lloyd, my dissertation chair, encouraged me to connect my local ethnographic observations to both historical and extra-local processes – his distinctive sociological imagination has profoundly shaped my work since we first crossed paths seven years ago in his seminars on “Contemporary Social Theory” and “Cities in a World Economy.” Intellectual craftsman par excellence, Professor Lloyd was a consistent source of sage conceptual and editorial advice. Ever a font of intellectual support, he continues to inspire me as I begin my career in the Windy City he so ably theorized in his first major piece of scholarship. Dan Cornfield provided consistently insightful and sharp critiques of what were at times ethereal chapter arguments. Moreover, his consistent votes of confidence were invaluable psychological buoys. Larry Isaac was a source of sagacious and candid advice since my second year of graduate studies. Brooke Ackerly’s seminar on “Feminist Social and Political Thought” has influenced many of my ethnographic interpretations. I am fortunate to have worked with each of them. I am also grateful for the financial support of both Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies. I also want to thank George Becker, Karen Campbell, Holly McCammon, Deanne Casanova, Pam Titchenor, and Linda Willingham for their support over the past seven years. Professor McCammon’s and Professor Campbell’s stellar work as directors of iv graduate study played no small part in making it possible to complete this project. George Becker’s theoretical acumen pushed my writing forward on more than one occasion; this is to say nothing of his graciousness during a very difficult period. Deanne, Pam, and Linda provided indispensable administrative assistance over the years. They will always occupy a special place in my heart. Three fellow friends and graduate students helped me work through several of the dissertation’s conceptual quagmires. Michael Cagley, Ipsita Chatterjea, and George Sanders all offered insightful feedback on early chapter drafts. Their intellectual and moral support cannot be overstated. Helene Di Iorio, my best friend and partner, has proven to be the most patient, supportive, and caring person I have ever known. On the innumerable days I felt I had “no project,” she reassured me that I was being too hard on myself. She helped me retain my sanity during the darkest hours of the writing process; her open ear and empathic heart kept me going when, on several occasions, I felt like giving up. If not for her, I could not have maintained the mental and emotional fortitude required to bring this project to fruition. I am fortunate to leave Nashville with so much more than a Ph.D. Lastly, heartfelt thanks go out to the homeless men who took part in this study. Their willing, if sometimes contentious, participation initiated me into a tumultuous and contradictory social world rife with misery, provisional pleasure, protective cynicism and moral compromise. In particular, Howard Allen lifted up the veil and allowed me to view its deeper recesses – the meaning of “his people’s” struggle for survival and dignity in Music City’s cracks and crevices. I am forever indebted to him and the members of his “homeless family.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 The Lafayette district .........................................................................................4 Taking a close look: fieldwork in Lafayette ....................................................16 Understanding Lafayette ..................................................................................24 Moral economies of care ..................................................................................38 The organizational ghetto ................................................................................41 Outline of the dissertation ................................................................................43 PART I: MORPHOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL GHETTO II. THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL GHETTO: URBAN ENTREPRENEURIALISM AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF NASHVILLE’S GEOGRAPHY OF HOMELESSNESS, PART I .......................47 Dodge city skid row .........................................................................................50 Urban entrepreneurialism and the rolling inertia of place ...............................53 The century III committee: re-imagin(eer)ing the future of downtown Nashville ..........................................................................................................56 Preserving lower broad ....................................................................................59 Placing the convention center ..........................................................................63 Nashville’s entrepreneurial turn .......................................................................68 The capitol mall redevelopment plan ...............................................................72 The “complex choreography” of urban revitalization .....................................75 vi III. THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL GHETTO: URBAN ENTREPRENEURIALISM AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF NASHVILLE’S GEOGRAPHY OF HOMELESSNESS, PART II ......................82 The “complex choreography” of urban revitalization, redux ..........................82 Conclusions ....................................................................................................106 PART II: THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL GHETTO Moral Economies of Care IV. THE MORAL ALCHEMY OF RESCUE WORK ..............................................109 The first-floor recruiting ground ....................................................................112 The hidden injuries of the intake ritual ..........................................................136 Summary ........................................................................................................144 V. RECOVERY, SIN & SALVATION: A MANICHAEAN MORAL ECONOMY OF CARE .............................................................................................................146 A Manichaean moral economy of care ..........................................................149 Summary ........................................................................................................159 VI. ON DARKNESS & LIGHT: BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE IN THE RESCUE MISSION .............................................................................................................161 Ron’s moment of awakening .........................................................................161 Living life recovery........................................................................................164 The search for distinction...............................................................................179 Conclusions ....................................................................................................194 VII. THE MORAL ALCHEMY OF CARITAS: A EUCHARISTIC MORAL ECONOMY OF CARE........................................................................................196 Making room in the inn..................................................................................200 Enacting the Eucharist ...................................................................................216 Conclusion .....................................................................................................224 VIII. NEGOTIATING “THE LOOP” ......................................................................... 225 The durable desirability of a bed ticket ..........................................................226 Staying in the loop .........................................................................................231 Waiting for hospitality ...................................................................................240 vii Conclusion .....................................................................................................248 The Political Economy of the Hiring Hall