Todd Shaw Barbara Combs Kirk Foster Michael Hodge Desiree Pedescleaux University of South Carolina at Columbia
This proposal requests support for an Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) for a one year pilot study that tests a new model for understanding how group or neighborhood identify impacts civic engagement and collective action by residents. The researchers propose a model that argues that geographic dispersion (an ongoing feature of minority neighborhoods) impacts the length of residence and how rooted residents are in their particular neighborhood. These factors are positively related to the level of the concept of linked fate (we are all in this together whether or not we are residents of the same neighborhood), attachment to the neighborhood and whether residents assume their neighborhoods' identify. These dynamics then contribute to trust and the level of cooperation among residents that in turn determines participation in collective action on behalf of the neighborhood. To test these basic assumptions, the research team will conduct a pilot study of two primarily African American historic neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia--the Old Fourth Ward and the West End -- that have undergone gentrification, with significantly diverse outcomes. The Old Fourth Ward over the last three decades has been transformed from a historically middle class black community to a neighborhood that is now 30 percent white, with a significant rise in median income. On the other hand, the West End, a black working class/lower income community, witnessed a 39 percent decrease in white residents, now has a population that is only 2 percent white, and experienced a modest decline in median income. These two communities offer the opportunity to study African American's perceptions of the changes that have occurred in two of their communities (that reflect trends in other such communities in the South) and responses (civic collective action) to these changes.
Broader Impacts
The project has significant broader impacts. Specifically, it (1) is an interdisciplinary collaboration between two Research-I, majority-white universities and two historically black liberals arts colleges; (2) mentors and substantively involves the participation of graduate and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups; (3) provides student and faculty researchers and the broader public with a robust dataset that has potential multi-disciplinary interest; (4) creates an opportunity to disseminate research findings directly relevant to the life of two vibrant urban neighborhoods; and (5) makes a unique theoretical and methodological contributions to the literature on the changing social and civic spaces of urban communities. While policymakers have long argued that devoting public and private resources to building local capacity can tackle urban poverty and spur economic redevelopment, e.g., Community Action Programs, Enterprise Zones, and Empowerment Zones. The study?s results can help us better understand the role that heterogeneous relationships among neighborhood residents play in successful communities? problem-solving.
