There Goes the Neighborhood (book)
| Author | William Julius Wilson & Richard Taub |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Social structure |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Vintage Books |
|
Publication date
|
2006 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 226 pp |
| ISBN | (Paperback) |
| OCLC | 180945581 |
There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America by William Julius Wilson and Richard Taub was written in 2006 and is an investigation about racial, ethnic and class tensions in four Chicago neighborhoods. The four neighborhoods, Beltway, Dover, Archer Park, and Groveland are found on the South Side and West Side of Chicago (fictitious names were chosen to protect their identities). Beltway was chosen as being the white neighborhood, Dover as being the white neighborhood in transition, Archer Park as being the Latino neighborhood, and Groveland as being the African American neighborhood.
In this chapter, the authors talk about their choice in choosing the four neighborhoods. They chose neighborhoods that were of working and lower middle class in order to represent the ordinary Americans and explained that these neighborhoods were populated by different ethnic groups. One thing that they all had in common was the growing Latino population. Moreover, the investigation was carried on because they wanted to fully understand what produced or prevented the “tipping point” (a rapid ethnic turnover). The research depended on an ethnographic approach which consisted of a team of 9 graduate student research assistants at the University of Chicago. The study was done over a period of 3 years, from January 1993 to September 1995. The book mentions Albert O. Hirschman's theory of exit, voice and loyalty. It also provides statistics about the population by race and Hispanic origin from 1980-2000. This chapter talks about the change in racial history in Chicago and the cause of white flight early on (civil rights). The other chapters will focus on the resident’s perception of other races.
(Written with the collaboration of Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas)
Beltway was the destination for those whites who chose the exit method because their cities were experiencing ethnic turnover. The reason they moved to Beltway was because they wanted bigger houses for their families. Beltway was the furthest from downtown Chicago and the most isolated out of the other 3 cities.
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