Bending the Arc: Can Authentic Participation Be Achieved Through Neighborhood Revitalization?

• In Event: 70.066 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 70.066-13 - Community Development and Collaborations

Abstract

This critical ethnography explores participation opportunities for residents in a single community undergoing educational and community revitalization. The purpose of this paper is to examine a single theme, community development, which emerged from field notes, interviews, and archival documents. Community development activities supported residents to identify needs in the community and develop and implement plans to address needs. However, nonprofit partners administering Promise and Choice Neighborhood grants and other interested parties revealed intentions and agendas which were not aligned with the needs and concerns of community residents. Findings indicate wealthy donors and advisory councils were able to shape transformation plans and implementation by promoting gentrification of the neighborhood, demanding the restructuring the district, and terminating interventions they deemed inefficient.

Author

• Katheryn Elizabeth Shannon, Oklahoma City Public Schools