Universities and neoliberal models of urban development: using ethnographic fieldwork to understand the 'Death and Rebirth of North Central Philadelphia'

Abstract

As a political and economic philosophy, neoliberalism has been used to reshape schools and universities, making them far more responsive to the pressures of the market. The principles associated with neoliberalism have also extended to programmes for urban economic development, particularly with respect to the largescale gentrification of neighbourhoods rendering them amenable to investments aimed at creating spaces attractive to white, middle-and-upper class consumers. In this article, I discuss how universities themselves have come to play a significant role as urban developers and investors, promoting commercial retail development and building upscale housing in neighbourhoods adjacent to their campuses. My entry point into this discussion is through describing an ethnographic methods class I taught in 2003, whereby students carried out collaborative research in the African-American neighbourhood surrounding Temple University's main campus in Philadelphia. As a result of their work, we produced a neighbourhood newspaper that sought to disrupt the commonplace assumptions about 'rescuing' the neighbourhood from what was presented as an inexorable spiral of decline; rather, our work showed that actions taken by the university, itself, had helped to produce the very symptoms of decline that the new development project now purported to remedy.

Activist*scholar collaborations in times of crisis, and beyond: Reflections on ‘Urban Activism: Staking Claims in the 21st Century City’

“…Meanwhile, Harvard's pension funds are invested in Brazilian farmland through third-party agribusiness companies which are displacing Afrodescendant communities (Grain, 2020). This speaks to a new momentum in the neoliberalization of cultural institutions through commoditization, profit-making, the promotion of unregulated labor, and the privatization of previously common goods (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997;Jurik, 2004;Hyatt, 2010).…”

Anthropological Praxis in Higher Education

“…A more feasible and productive strategy might be to turn neoliberalism on its head by mainstreaming new and different forms of higher education, especially engaged social science initiatives (Wood ). Such projects may or may not generate funding in the millions, but will enhance a university's profile through authentic, meaningful, and productive university–community partnerships to rectify injustice (Hyatt ; Schensul and Butler ). As Holland argues, “In a networked environment, these distinctive strengths can be combined in flexible and adaptive ways with the resources of community partners and national and regional industries to address complex and evolving problems and to promote innovative solutions to these pressing concerns” (Holland :7).…”

‘To Fill in the Missing Piece of the Middletown Puzzle’: Lessons from Re-Studying Middletown

“…As they did in the 1920s, ethnographic approaches obviously still surface opposite more deeply funded and powerful modes of research: ones that frequently advance the agendas of the wealthy and powerful, and ones, too, that are often carefully veiled under the guise of a 'disinterested science' (see Marks, 2009). These contradictions and oppositions, I would suggest, are no more deeply felt than in our universities, where the endless chase for big money, and its unavoidable (and increasingly not very well hidden) neoliberal agendas, far outweigh interest in local community partnerships; and where investments in engaged social science and humanities (like that which made The Other Side of Middletown possible) are exceedingly and exceptionally rare (see Hyatt, 2010).…”