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Pushed off the map: toponymy and the politics of place in New York City

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  • Madden, David J.

Abstract

This article examines conflicts over neighborhood renaming and the politics of place. Toponymy, or the practice of place naming, is central to the constitution of place, and neighborhood renaming is a pervasive urban strategy. But despite its prevalence, the role of neighborhood toponymic conflict in processes of urban restructuring has not been given sustained engagement from urban scholars. This article uses archival and ethnographic data from an area in Brooklyn, New York to argue that contemporary neighborhood renaming facilitates uneven local development. Real estate developers and residents of expensive private housing use toponymy to legitimize their privileged positions, while public housing residents experience the same toponymic change as a form of symbolic displacement. Conflicts surrounding neighborhood renaming should therefore be seen as a symbolic dimension to struggles over resources, property, identity, and belonging in urban space.

Suggested Citation

  • Madden, David J., 2018. "Pushed off the map: toponymy and the politics of place in New York City," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69568, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:69568
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/69568/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew L. Mitchelson & Derek H. Alderman & E. Jeffrey Popke, 2007. "Branded: The Economic Geographies of Streets Named in Honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(1), pages 120-145, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rusu Mihai Stelian, 2021. "Street Names through Sociological Lenses. Part II: Constructionism and Utilitarianism," Social Change Review, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 1-28, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    neighborhood; toponymy; gentrification; displacement; public housing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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