Despite Disinformation and Urban Marginalization: Minority Mobilization

• In Event: Population and Politics

Abstract

Much of the literature on political participation relies on the socioeconomic status (SES) and/or resource model. Income, education, and occupation provide an individual with the resources, knowledge, civic skills, and opportunities to engage in political activities (Verba & Nie, 1972; Verba et al., 1995). Marginalized communities are more likely to be exposed to mis- or disinformation, which prevents them from being fully involved in politics. Despite this, Black citizens, for example, have maintained a relatively high level of willingness to participate in politics throughout American history (Keyssar, 2001; Dawson, 1994).
Political science research has advanced our understanding of minority political participation, even in disadvantaged neighborhoods. It is precisely the unique characteristics of these homogenous and segregated spaces suffering from discrimination that explain political activism (Anoll, 2018; Carlos, 2021; Nuamah & Ogorzalek, 2021).
However, the dominant research narrative emphasizes voting or protests and rallies when analyzing minority political participation. This leaves us with a relatively dichotomous and narrow view of the minority as either mere victims of or diametrically opposed to racial or urban policy.
This paper develops a theory of how the urban process of gentrification affects political mobilization, access to information, and involvement in urban politics among the minority. More specifically, I demonstrate that such political participation manifests not through opposition to gentrification, but on the contrary, through participation in the capitalist urban system. The study focuses on the question of what are the political participation patterns of Latinx entrepreneurs and business owners?
This study is focused on Barrio Logan, a neighborhood in San Diego undergoing accelerated gentrification. I used a qualitative in-depth case study approach (Yin, 2003), including four sources to collect data. I conducted participant observations in the year of 2022. I attended monthly meetings of the organizations All For Logan, Barrio Logan Association, a community planning group, and the Chicano Park Steering Committee. Second, I conducted 66 semi-structured in-depth interviews with: 40 business owners; six government agency representatives and 20 long-term residents. Sampling strategies combined “snowball sampling” (Noy, 2008) of additional relevant stakeholders. Third, I conducted policy document analysis. Fourth, to explore the visual forms of political activism in the neighborhood, I photographed ongoing developments in the community.
I used thematic analysis for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns (themes) within the data. In the proposed research, this thematic analysis was aimed at identifying the various patterns of political participation.
This study expands current literature on minority political participation and mobilization, explaining a unique and alternative pattern of minority political participation from within the urban economic system, devoid of civil unrest. I demonstrate how Latinx business owners utilize gentrification to leverage their political power and claim space ownership. Such political participation manifests through establishing political businesses, politicizing businesses for grassroots activism and founding and participating in organizations concerning urban politics. They acted within the rules of the political-economic game in a way that promoted their interests, their access to information and their political agendas.
The local-urban process of gentrification explains the emergence of this unique pattern of political participation and activism through business. Gentrification, which by its very nature attracts outside capital and renewed neighborhood interest, creates an incentive among minority residents, and business owners to participate in gentrification.
Shining a light on this pattern of political participation is important for several reasons. First, as Latinxs already form America’s largest minority group, it is necessary to understand the Latinx impact on daily life, and policies at the local level. Second, this research contributes to the Latinx identity-to-politics literature, elucidating the importance of geographic context and the role of marginalized gentrified communities in politicizing Latinx identity. Third, Given the similarities between Barrio Logan and other Latinx communities in the US, this research has broader implications for minority political participation debates. I suggest that if political scientists look locally and ask appropriate questions, they will likely find relatively high levels of political engagement on display from even the most traditionally “demobilized” communities. This perspective would also enable us to move away from questions of whether or not disadvantaged minorities participate, and why they oppose policies. Instead, we can focus on how these groups manage to be part of the political system and what their participation yields.

Author

• Yael Shmaryahu-Yeshurun, University of California, San Diego