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Gentrification and the Nature of Work: Exploring the Links in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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  • Winifred Curran

    (Department of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA)

Abstract

This paper looks at the linkages between gentrification and the displacement of small-scale manufacturing and blue-collar work in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Although the link between global economic change and gentrification has been made for the upper classes who are the consumers of the gentrified landscape, very little work has been done on the blue-collar work and workers that remain in the central city despite the assumption by policymakers that deindustrialization is complete. I argue that manufacturing is still a viable sector of the urban economy that is increasingly at risk of displacement because of the conversion of industrial space to residential use and speculative real-estate pressure. In this way, gentrification is encouraging industrial displacement, which in turn is leading to the degradation of the blue-collar work that remains and to the increasing informalization of work.

Suggested Citation

  • Winifred Curran, 2004. "Gentrification and the Nature of Work: Exploring the Links in Williamsburg, Brooklyn," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(7), pages 1243-1258, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:7:p:1243-1258
    DOI: 10.1068/a36240
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter B Nelson & J Dwight Hines, 2018. "Rural gentrification and networks of capital accumulation—A case study of Jackson, Wyoming," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(7), pages 1473-1495, October.
    2. Hamil Pearsall, 2013. "Superfund Me: A Study of Resistance to Gentrification in New York City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(11), pages 2293-2310, August.
    3. Loretta Lees, 2007. "Progress in Gentrification Research?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(1), pages 228-234, January.
    4. Miguel de Oliver, 2016. "Gentrification as the appropriation of therapeutic ‘diversity’: A model and case study of the multicultural amenity of contemporary urban renewal," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(6), pages 1299-1316, May.
    5. Troy D. Abel & Jonah White & Stacy Clauson, 2015. "Risky Business: Sustainability and Industrial Land Use across Seattle’s Gentrifying Riskscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-36, November.
    6. Chiara Valli, 2015. "A Sense of Displacement: Long-time Residents' Feelings of Displacement in Gentrifying Bushwick, New York," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1191-1208, November.
    7. Geoffrey De Verteuil, 2011. "Evidence of Gentrification-induced Displacement among Social Services in London and Los Angeles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(8), pages 1563-1580, June.
    8. Trina Hamilton & Winifred Curran, 2013. "From “Five Angry Women†to “Kick-ass Community†: Gentrification and Environmental Activism in Brooklyn and Beyond," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(8), pages 1557-1574, June.
    9. Winifred Curran, 2018. "‘Mexicans love red’ and other gentrification myths: Displacements and contestations in the gentrification of Pilsen, Chicago, USA," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(8), pages 1711-1728, June.
    10. Shenjing He, 2012. "Two Waves of Gentrification and Emerging Rights Issues in Guangzhou, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(12), pages 2817-2833, December.
    11. Cuz Potter & Danielle Labbé, 2021. "Gentrification or …? Injustice in large-scale residential projects in Hanoi," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(12), pages 2456-2472, September.
    12. Mark Davidson & Loretta Lees, 2005. "New-Build ‘Gentrification’ and London's Riverside Renaissance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(7), pages 1165-1190, July.
    13. Ingmar Pastak & Eneli Kindsiko & Tiit Tammaru & Reinout Kleinhans & Maarten Van Ham, 2019. "Commercial Gentrification in Post‐Industrial Neighbourhoods: A Dynamic View From an Entrepreneur’s Perspective," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 110(5), pages 588-604, December.
    14. Robert Murdie & Carlos Teixeira, 2011. "The Impact of Gentrification on Ethnic Neighbourhoods in Toronto: A Case Study of Little Portugal," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(1), pages 61-83, January.
    15. Tom Slater, 2008. "‘A Literal Necessity to be Re‐Placed’: A Rejoinder to the Gentrification Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 212-223, March.
    16. Darren P Smith & Louise Holt, 2007. "Studentification and ‘Apprentice’ Gentrifiers within Britain's Provincial Towns and Cities: Extending the Meaning of Gentrification," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(1), pages 142-161, January.
    17. Renan Almeida & Pedro Patrício & Marcelo Brandão & Ramon Torres, 2022. "Can economic development policy trigger gentrification? Assessing and anatomising the mechanisms of state-led gentrification," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(1), pages 84-104, February.
    18. Lester, T. William & Hartley, Daniel A., 2014. "The long term employment impacts of gentrification in the 1990s," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 80-89.
    19. Daniel A. Hartley & Nikhil Kaza & T. William Lester, 2016. "Are America’s Inner Cities Competitive? Evidence From the 2000s," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(2), pages 137-158, May.
    20. Kathe Newman & Elvin K. Wyly, 2006. "The Right to Stay Put, Revisited: Gentrification and Resistance to Displacement in New York City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(1), pages 23-57, January.
    21. Meltzer, Rachel & Ghorbani, Pooya, 2017. "Does gentrification increase employment opportunities in low-income neighborhoods?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 52-73.

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