Introduction: "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" -- Ase: (Mis)trust, Change Makers, and Leadership Development in Two Chicago Neighborhoods -- A Seat at the Table: The New Communities Program, Organizational Relationships, and Socialization into Community Development -- "You Can't Do It if You're Mad, You Can Do It if You're Organized": Leadership Development and the New Communities Program -- "Teamwork to Make the Dream Work": Networks of Opportunity and Collective Skepticism as a Tactical Tool -- Conclusion: What's Trust Got to Do with It? -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix A: Methods -- Appendix B: In-Depth Interview Protocol -- Notes -- Bibliography
Summary:
Despite promises from politicians, nonprofits, and government agencies, Chicago's most disadvantaged neighborhoods remain plagued by poverty, failing schools, and gang activity. In Building a Better Chicago, Teresa Irene Gonzales shows us how, and why, these promises have gone unfulfilled, revealing tensions between neighborhood residents and the institutions that claim to represent them. Focusing on Little Village, the largest Mexican immigrant community in the Midwest, and Greater Englewood, a predominantly Black neighborhood, Gonzales gives us an on-the-ground look at Chicago's inner city. She shows us how philanthropists, nonprofits, and government agencies struggle for power and control--often against the interests of residents themselves--with the result of further marginalizing the communities of color they seek to help. But Gonzales also shows how these communities have advocated for themselves and demanded accountability from the politicians and agencies in their midst. Building a Better Chicago explores the many high-stakes battles taking place on the streets of Chicago, illuminating a more promising pathway to empowering communities of color in the twenty-first century. -- Provided by publisher. "This book offers insight into how redevelopment policy is implemented on the ground, articulates the political and social benefits of collective skepticism for communities of color, and critiques the partial perspectives dominant in social capital and community development studies" -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.