In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs... more In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) from organizing to confront political and economic elites to affordable housing development and service provision has been well documented. In the critical urban studies literature, this trend towards a particular kind of conflict-free community development is met with dismay at the increasing prevalence of capitalist market-based logics into ‘excluded’ urban neighbourhoods, and even to the scale of individual subjectivities. We argue that this binary rubric – pro-market or anti-market – for evaluating CDCs is, however, insufficiently nuanced. We aim to further expand our understanding of entrepreneurial CDCs and their approach towards, and use of, market logics. In this chapter we use the case of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), to argue that the use of markets in community development is more complex than the usual neoliberal critique. BCDI is a multi-stakeholder community economic development initiative that seeks to build community wealth among low- and middle-income residents of the Bronx by enlarging the scope of local economic actors and policy. BCDI's vision is for entrepreneurialism in which the local businesses are embedded in networks that support community organizing and what they call ‘economic democracy’. In their pursuit of organizing a platform of economic democracy for the Bronx, BCDI shows that it may indeed be possible to construct local political-economic institutions that make use of markets that are accountable to, and operate in the service of, more just cities.
Building from the “Progressive Cities” era toolkit, advocates of community economic development (... more Building from the “Progressive Cities” era toolkit, advocates of community economic development (CED) today deploy a wide range of new and well-established strategies. How can planners make theoretical and practical sense of these varying tactics? Using New York as a case and sociological strategic action field theory as a framing device, we find evidence of three distinct CED logics: exactive/concessionary, localist, and transformative/democratic. We differentiate these logics based on their relationship to neoliberalism and globalization, forces which have shaped CED’s historical development. Awareness of these ideal-type logics may assist planners and CED actors in selecting and coordinating contextually appropriate strategies.
When urban practitioners undertake local projects, they are often working not only to achieve mat... more When urban practitioners undertake local projects, they are often working not only to achieve material gains in economically distressed neighborhoods but also to promote democracy, cooperation, equity, justice, and mutualism. Yet the existence of this strong set of counterhegemonic principles uniting community land trusts, cooperative enterprises, and credit unions also creates tension around the question of how to scale them up and increase their impact. In this essay, Evan Casper-Futterman argues that community development organizations should redraw the current spatial-political boundaries separating sector-identified efforts in housing, finance, and workforce development-redefining their work around values. Scale, silos, and stalemate The theme of scale, both in the geographic and spatial sense and in the sense of magnitude, impact, and influence, is fundamental to just about every tactical and strategic decision in neighborhood and community politics and organizing. In 1976, Mo...
The U.S. military during the Vietnam War experienced severe internal disruptions in the form of r... more The U.S. military during the Vietnam War experienced severe internal disruptions in the form of resistance by soldiers to the execution of their orders. Such resistance nearly incapacitated the mil ...
In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs... more In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) from organizing to confront political and economic elites to affordable housing development and service provision has been well documented. In the critical urban studies literature, this trend towards a particular kind of conflict-free community development is met with dismay at the increasing prevalence of capitalist market-based logics into ‘excluded’ urban neighbourhoods, and even to the scale of individual subjectivities. We argue that this binary rubric – pro-market or anti-market – for evaluating CDCs is, however, insufficiently nuanced. We aim to further expand our understanding of entrepreneurial CDCs and their approach towards, and use of, market logics. In this chapter we use the case of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), to argue that the use of markets in community development is more complex than the usual neoliberal critique. BCDI is a multi-stak...
In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs... more In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) from organizing to confront political and economic elites to affordable housing development and service provision has been well documented. In the critical urban studies literature, this trend towards a particular kind of conflict-free community development is met with dismay at the increasing prevalence of capitalist market-based logics into ‘excluded’ urban neighbourhoods, and even to the scale of individual subjectivities. We argue that this binary rubric – pro-market or anti-market – for evaluating CDCs is, however, insufficiently nuanced. We aim to further expand our understanding of entrepreneurial CDCs and their approach towards, and use of, market logics. In this chapter we use the case of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), to argue that the use of markets in community development is more complex than the usual neoliberal critique. BCDI is a multi-stakeholder community economic development initiative that seeks to build community wealth among low- and middle-income residents of the Bronx by enlarging the scope of local economic actors and policy. BCDI's vision is for entrepreneurialism in which the local businesses are embedded in networks that support community organizing and what they call ‘economic democracy’. In their pursuit of organizing a platform of economic democracy for the Bronx, BCDI shows that it may indeed be possible to construct local political-economic institutions that make use of markets that are accountable to, and operate in the service of, more just cities.
Building from the “Progressive Cities” era toolkit, advocates of community economic development (... more Building from the “Progressive Cities” era toolkit, advocates of community economic development (CED) today deploy a wide range of new and well-established strategies. How can planners make theoretical and practical sense of these varying tactics? Using New York as a case and sociological strategic action field theory as a framing device, we find evidence of three distinct CED logics: exactive/concessionary, localist, and transformative/democratic. We differentiate these logics based on their relationship to neoliberalism and globalization, forces which have shaped CED’s historical development. Awareness of these ideal-type logics may assist planners and CED actors in selecting and coordinating contextually appropriate strategies.
When urban practitioners undertake local projects, they are often working not only to achieve mat... more When urban practitioners undertake local projects, they are often working not only to achieve material gains in economically distressed neighborhoods but also to promote democracy, cooperation, equity, justice, and mutualism. Yet the existence of this strong set of counterhegemonic principles uniting community land trusts, cooperative enterprises, and credit unions also creates tension around the question of how to scale them up and increase their impact. In this essay, Evan Casper-Futterman argues that community development organizations should redraw the current spatial-political boundaries separating sector-identified efforts in housing, finance, and workforce development-redefining their work around values. Scale, silos, and stalemate The theme of scale, both in the geographic and spatial sense and in the sense of magnitude, impact, and influence, is fundamental to just about every tactical and strategic decision in neighborhood and community politics and organizing. In 1976, Mo...
The U.S. military during the Vietnam War experienced severe internal disruptions in the form of r... more The U.S. military during the Vietnam War experienced severe internal disruptions in the form of resistance by soldiers to the execution of their orders. Such resistance nearly incapacitated the mil ...
In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs... more In the United States, the decades-long shift in focus of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) from organizing to confront political and economic elites to affordable housing development and service provision has been well documented. In the critical urban studies literature, this trend towards a particular kind of conflict-free community development is met with dismay at the increasing prevalence of capitalist market-based logics into ‘excluded’ urban neighbourhoods, and even to the scale of individual subjectivities. We argue that this binary rubric – pro-market or anti-market – for evaluating CDCs is, however, insufficiently nuanced. We aim to further expand our understanding of entrepreneurial CDCs and their approach towards, and use of, market logics. In this chapter we use the case of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), to argue that the use of markets in community development is more complex than the usual neoliberal critique. BCDI is a multi-stak...
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