At the intersection of sociology and public policy, my work on urban processes and racial inequality aims to better understand and improve American cities.
Conflict: Contesting Culture and Power in Urban Places.
My current book project - tentatively entitled The Place Next Door: Culture, Commerce, and Conflict in the New New Orleans - examines public participation in commercial development processes. Inevitably, these negotiations are not only about land use but also draw in contested issues of cultural identity, authenticity, economic interest, and quality of life. They are negotiations over what New Orleans is and what it should be in the future. Baked inextricably into these questions are race, class, and gender divides, as well as feelings around urban processes like gentrification, tourism, and post-disaster recovery. These decision-making processes also make light of power in contemporary cities: whose voices are heard and prioritized? Stay tuned as I continue to write and develop this project!
Gentrification: Social Impacts and Racialized Dimensions.
I study gentrification, or the process of upscaling and displacement in urban neighborhoods. I specifically examine the social and cultural impacts that gentrification has on local communities (“Whose Neighborhood Now?”). And, I look at gentrification as a racialized process: to that end, I have outlined critical research agendas for scholars and practitioners (“What Makes Gentrification White?” and “Building a Du Boisian Research Agenda”).
Bureaucracy: Structure vs. Agency at City Hall.
I investigate bureaucratic encounter, or how everyday people interact with government - particularly on the local level. I take a dual approach, thinking both about how bureaucratic structures limit opportunities and reproduce racial inequality - but also about how civilians exert agency and try to push back or game these systems. In Chicago, my co-authors and I looked at people’s attempts to get emergency rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that difficult administrative processes often left out people of color (“The Risks of Renting”). In New Orleans, I recently finished a large project interviewing small business owners about their experiences with local permitting administration - with published results forthcoming soon.
Housing: Local Policy, Displacement, and Affordability.
In several different urban settings, I evaluate the impact of housing policy interventions. In New Orleans, I collaborated with local organization Jane Place to collect data on evictions and analyze the factors that lead to more positive outcomes for renters (“Eviction Court Outcomes”). In Chicago, my co-authors and I investigated a police-led housing inspection mechanism that led to vulnerability for homeowners (“Punishing People through Property”).
Policing: Order Maintenance and Inequality.
I critically examine “order maintenance” policing, or enforcement that is focused on low-level, quality-of-life concerns rather than criminal offenses. I recently began to analyze a large dataset of street vendor arrests in New Orleans. Stay tuned as I continue to work with this data and publish findings!
Banner image by Frank Relle.