Spatial Arrangements and Practices: A Detroit neighborhood

• In Event: 099 - Regular Session. Bringing Sociology's 'Community Question' Back to the 21st Century City

Abstract

In this study, we explore the gendered spatial arrangements of economic activity in one neighborhood in Detroit. We are interested in understanding how the larger political economy and spatial arrangements and practices shape the social relationships which mediate exchanges in the informal economy. The ways in which urban space is structured shapes and supports social networks and challenges dichotomous relationships of space. We show how space is fluid in this neighborhood, Dtown, as women carve out and use space in new ways to create and sustain networks of economic and social importance in their community, which challenges standard conceptualization of private and public space. We present three types of space in Dtown; public space, private businesses and private homes. We show how private spaces, businesses and homes have become more public as they are used for economic, community and social activities, which are often intertwined and cross all three spaces. Our data show the gendered ways that public and private space is blurred and suggest that we should not only look at how public spaces are contested or become privatized but also the process by which private space becomes public. These gendered and racialized processes have important implications for women’s social and economic opportunities which should be investigated further.

Authors

• Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University

• Sarah Christine Swider, Wayne State University