New Books: The Menace of Prosperity

New Books: The Menace of Prosperity

In this episode, we’re speaking with Daniel Wortel-London, author of The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865-1981. In this book, Dr. Wortel-London chronicles how periodic economic crises have shaped New York City’s modern history — and how alternative strategies for sustainable, democratic growth are possible. GET THE BOOK! The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865–1981, by Daniel Wortel-London. University of Chicago Press, 2025.  [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo247855479.html] GUEST Daniel Wortel-London, Visiting Assistant Professor, History, Bard College [https://www.bard.edu/search/people/?id=5809] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

New Books: We Belong Here

We interview Dr. Shani Evans, author of We Belong Here: Gentrification, White Spacemaking, and a Black Sense of Place, published in 2025 by University of Chicago Press. In We Belong Here, Shani Evans explores the dynamics of gentrification from the inside through a case study of Northeast Portland, OR, a historically black neighborhood. Drawing on a rich inventory of ethnographic fieldwork, this book unsettles some of the economistic determinants around gentrification scholarship and foregrounds the significance of race and racism in neighborhood change. GET THE BOOK! We Belong Here: Gentrification, White Spacemaking, and a Black Sense of Place, by Shani Evans. University of Chicago Press, 2025. [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo238845176.html] GUEST Shani Evans, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Rice University [https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/shani-evans] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

New Books: Making Sanctuary Cities

Tune in to hear from Dr. Rachel Humphris on her new book, Making Sanctuary Cities: Migration, Citizenship, and Urban Governance, published in 2025 by Stanford University Press. Making Sanctuary Cities investigates the complex policy frameworks that shape urban immigration and the politics of belonging through ethnographic and archival research on three cities: San Francisco, Toronto, and Sheffield, England. GET THE BOOK! Making Sanctuary Cities: Migration, Citizenship, and Urban Governance, by Rachel Humphris. Stanford University Press, 2025. [https://www.sup.org/books/anthropology/making-sanctuary-cities] GUEST Rachel Humphris, Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London [https://www.qmul.ac.uk/politics/staff/profiles/humphrisrachel-.html] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

New Books: Marked Men

In this episode, we’re speaking with Nyron Crawford, author of Marked Men: Black Politicians and the Racialization of Scandal, published in 2024 by NYU Press. Marked Men complicates the common perception that Black elected officials are forgiven for their transgressions because of the commitments and benefits made to constituents. Instead, Crawford demonstrates that “racialized suspicion” shapes the way Black voters rally to protect their embattled Black political representatives. GET THE BOOK! Marked Men: Black Politicians and the Racialization of Scandal, by Nyron Crawford. NYU Press, 2024. [https://nyupress.org/9781479816323/marked-men/] GUEST Nyron Crawford, Associate Professor, Political Science, Temple University [http://liberalarts.temple.edu/directory/nyron-n-crawford] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

New Books: The Power of Chinatown

Tune in for our conversation with Laureen Hom, author of The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles, published in 2024 by University of California Press. In The Power of Chinatown, Hom draws on ethnographic fieldwork to explore how and under what conditions residents and business owners in LA’s Chinatown challenge and mobilize dynamics of gentrification and community change. GET THE BOOK! The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles, by Laureen Hom. University of California Press, 2024. [https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-power-of-chinatown/paper] GUEST Laureen Hom, Associate Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, San José State University [https://www.sjsu.edu/people/laureen.hom/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.