Adrianne Sykes

“Dare we call it class struggle?”-David Harvey

“Black Lives Matter” (Black Lives Matter @ Public Theater New York City by Vladimir licensed under 2.0 Generic (CC By-SA 2.0).

“Jordan Neely” (https://hannahfaulkner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jordan-neelys-strangulation-death-on-the-new-york-subway-what.png).

            This week’s readings included “The Right to the Just City”, by David Harvey with Cuz Potter, “The Right to the City” by David Harvey, and “Whose City?” by R.E. Pahl. All three readings examined the concept of urban renewal, urban development, and social justice. According to Harvey, “the question of what kind of city we want cannot be divorced from that of what kind of social ties, relationship to nature, lifestyles, technologies and aesthetic values we desire” (Harvey, 2009, p. 23). From that quote, one can believe that he supports contractualism because contractualism is about a shared agreement among those who live within a city which is just. However, Harvey rejects many prior theories of social justice because he thinks they lack concrete and practical application to contemporary problems cities face regarding social justice. In both articles, “The Right to the Just City” and “The Right to the City”, Harvey posed that theories regarding social justice need to be useful to solve contemporary issues. He examined the role of neoliberalism and social processes’ impact on urbanization. In his article, “Whose city?”, Pahl discussed urban planning and renewal in Britain comparing it to America. More specifically, he analyzed the role of urban planning professionals in urban renewal. He believed the elite have the last say in influencing urban planners and architects in this process.

            I agreed with many of the authors’ premises in this week’s readings. In “The Right to the Just City”, David Harvey with Cuz Potter, Harvey stated that Thrasymarchus from Plato’s The Republic, may have been right. As much as I rejected Thrasymarchus’ definition of justice when reading The Republic, Harvey presented a compelling argument for this stance. He stated that “Thrasymarchus might have been right: justice is simply whatever the ruling class wants it to be. And when we look at the history of jurisprudence and of judicial decisions and how these have evolved in relation to political power, it is very hard to deny that ideals of justice and practices of political power have marched along very much hand in hand” (Harvey, 2009, pp. 40-41). Harvey then proceeded to present the concept of the territorial logic of state power and the capitalistic logic of power. State rights support the right of states to enact laws to protect their citizens. However, for those without proper documentation such as immigrants, transients, or the homeless the state has the right to marginalize or disregard them. The other, capitalistic logic of power involves property rights and individual ownership as well as the accumulation of capital through market exchange. Both logics are opposing sides of the same coin; linked together due to economic circumstances. “These two logics of power are often in tension if not outright opposition to each other at the same time as they must in some way fulfill and support each other lest social reproduction dissolve into total anarchy and nihilism” (Harvey, 2009, P. 42). The states guarantee the rights of those who own property because they are dependent on the tax base provided by those who own property which creates issues with social justice for those who do not own property. Both concepts explain how social justice is influenced by the elite who are allowed to dictate how services are rendered and cities are developed. What is good about the article is that it breaks down these two political processes and demonstrates how “Thrasymarchus’ theory could be correct. According to Harvey, Thrasymarchus’ theory that “each form of government enacts the laws with a view to its own advantage’ so that ‘the just is the same everywhere, the advantage of the stronger” (Harvey, 2009, p. 40). This viewpoint has been the essence of neoliberal policies throughout the world more specifically within the United States. Harvey’s evidence supports his premise that “the bundle of rights and freedom now available to us, and the social processes in which they are embedded, need to be challenged at all levels. They produce cities marked and marred by inequality, alienation, and injustice” (Harvey, 2009, p. 45). Class struggle is at the heart of the struggle to take back the right to the city which has been overwhelmingly encroached upon by neoliberal policies since the 1980s.

            Similarly, in “The Right to the City” Harvey provided an analysis of class struggle at the core of urban renewal. He describes how cities arose through geographical and social concentration of surplus production and how urbanization has always been a class phenomenon (Harvey, 2008, p. 24). In addition, he compares the urbanization of Paris in the 1800s and cities within the United States demonstrating the similarities. As a result of Bonaparte commissioning Haussmann to rebuild Paris, Paris became a tourist attraction to the world just like New York City where consumers were able to finance the city. In addition, both cities were built as a result of the elites’ control of urban developers and planners. He compared Haussmann to Robert Moses who resurrected Haussmann’s architectural style. According to Harvey, Moses prided himself in taking a meat axe to the Bronx, whilst displacing and bulldozing mostly African American slums in the city’s slum clearance programs during the 1940s. These examples demonstrate how the elite unjustly treated those when deciding who had rights and whose rights they could disregard.

            I appreciated Harvey providing a historical context to the concepts he examined and listing them under recognizable headings, for example, Urban revolutions, Girding the globe, making it easy to reference the material. Harvey’s suggestion for unifying the global struggle is to formulate a common demand that includes greater democratic control over the surplus that is produced through urbanization (Harvey, 2008, p.37). I think that this is a viable solution to the ever-increasing land grabs on a global scale that feed the accumulation of capital and greed for profits under neoliberal policies. At least it would be possible to redistribute the wealth as well as incentivize participation in the urban renewal process.

            Lastly, in his essay, “Whose city?”, Pahl explored the question of who’s responsible for the social issues that come with urbanization. He discussed the role of sociologists and urban planners in the urban renewal process in Britain and the United States. I agreed with his observation that “if the culture of poverty is defined as those cultural patterns which keep people poor, it would be necessary to include in the term also the persisting cultural patterns among the affluent which, deliberately or not, keep their fellow citizens poor” (Pahl, 1975, p. 191). What is good about this essay is that Pahl poses a question at the beginning of his essay, what is to become of the city? He eventually answers it with the statement, “the city is what society lets it be” (Pahl, 1975 p. 187 and p.194). The only limitation of this essay is the author’s failure to fully explain what is meant by “positive discrimination” in the last paragraph of the essay. Otherwise, this piece provided a detailed analysis of the role of sociologists and urban planners in constructing a just city.

            In conclusion, the right to a just city involves many concepts. The rights of the masses will come about through struggle against the powerful few who have taken over those rights to land, and other spaces on a global scale. Harvey posed a question of what the global masses should demand when they come together to demand their right to the city which is to demand the surplus from the accumulation through urbanization.Regarding this global struggle, Harvey stated” the opportunities are multiple because, as this brief history shows, crises repeatedly erupt around urbanization both locally and globally, and because the metropolis is now the point of massive collision-dare we call it class struggle?-over the accumulation by dispossession visited upon the least well-off and the development drive that seeks to colonize space for the affluent” (Harvey, 2008, p. 39). A struggle for the surplus can lead to the redistribution of resources and increased political clout among the masses. Lastly, the struggle for the right to a just and fair city must come from the masses in the form of demands for transformative policies that are more socially, politically, and economically inclusive.

References

Harvey, D (2008). “The Right to the City” New Left Review. (September-October) 53.

Harvey, D and Potter, C (2009). “The Right to the Just City” in Marcuse, Connolly, Novy, Olivio, Potter and Steil (eds.) Searching for the Just City: Debates in urban theory and practice. New York NY: Routledge 40-52.

Pahl, R.E. (1975) “Whose City?” in Whose City. Middlesex UK: Penguin Press.

“Vertical Sprawl”, by Ben Cappellacci is licensed by CC BY 2.0.

                Housing justice is an important topic in the United States, because of the impact housing policy has had on the housing market. Many policies have benefitted the rich and those holding property at the expense of renters and the poor. Working-class and poor families who struggle with rising rents also are being displaced due to gentrification which is driving the high cost of rents. This week’s readings addressed the problems of housing justice observed in the struggle of poor families throughout the country who face eviction. In the epilogue titled, “Home and Hope” of his book, Evicted: Property and Profit in the American City, Desmond examined the issues of housing justice using testimonies from several people who experienced eviction. While poor families are facing eviction, others enjoy large amounts of space in condos such as those on “billionaires’ row”.

                In Faulty Towers: Great Sprawl in the Sky, Samuel Stein examined the excess that the “super-rich”, the .01 percent, enjoy while most city residents struggle to find decent housing in a shrinking affordable housing market. What he referred to as vertical sprawl, he defined as “a spatial and social development pattern normally associated with suburban development, creating a niche of spacious high-priced luxury apartments” (Stein, 2021). Many of these apartments are not only unavailable to many city dwellers, but many also remain empty and unused. This demonstration of waste and excess is reminiscent of the neoliberal austerity period of the 1980s in which policies benefitted the rich at the expense of the working class. These condos use excessive space, while most people are forced to live in overcrowded conditions and squalor. It also reminds me of a tale of two cities, a city for the “super-rich” and one for the rest of us who cannot afford these luxurious high-rise apartments. Lastly, Schindler and Moyer’s “The Case for Truly Public Housing”, offers some successful examples of public housing such as Miller River located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They posed the argument that public housing should remain in the control of the public and not private developers to solve the affordable housing crisis.

                In his book, Desmond examined the struggle with housing justice using the testimonies of several people who suffered eviction. For example, he discussed the struggle of Arleen and Vanetta who had to dedicate 70 or 80 percent of their income to rent which made it impossible for them to provide for their children (Desmond, 2016, p.295). Most families are struggling because they pay well over thirty percent of their family budget for housing. Many of these families end up in eviction courts and out on the streets. The author presents the reader with the concept of home being the foundation of security and identity. According to Desmond, “the home is the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the street” (Desmond, 2016, p. 293). I agreed with his argument about how having a stable home life is needed for a sturdy foundation and is a building block of one’s personhood. He affirmed that having a place to live is a basic need everyone should have. However, for many people, home life is a constant struggle to pay the rent creating uncertainty due to a lack of stability.

                What was convincing about Desmond’s argument is his development of the importance of home and its significance to one’s material well-being. After establishing the importance of a stable home, he presented the case that every human being deserves the dignity of having their basic needs met in which a home is one of those basic needs. In addition, Desmond made a valid argument regarding the negative impact eviction has on individuals and communities that deal with high turnover and the stress of high eviction rates. For example, eviction leads to loss of income due to loss of jobs, health issues caused by stress, and even suicide. In addition, communities are disrupted by the high turnover rate of people forced to move. Neighbors become strangers leaving a lack of connection or civic duty. Material hardship is the fallout from eviction due to material loss such as personal items, furniture, and other things. However, there is psychological loss as well such as connection to long-term relationships within communities.

                What is good about the reading is that the author offers successful examples of affordable housing. Some solutions he suggests are housing vouchers, universal housing assistance programs, and other affordable housing solutions. One solution for this crisis is a universal housing voucher program like the ones in other countries such as Great Britain and the Netherlands. For example, the Great Britain Housing Benefit is available to every single family with an income below a certain level who meets basic program requirements (Desmond, 2016, p.309). Other countries have housing allowance programs such as the Netherlands. What is confusing about the readings is his discussion on the failed housing projects. He stated that “America has made impressive strides over the years when it comes to housing”, then, he concludes that these slum clearance programs led to worse devastation, isolation, and poverty (Desmond, 2016, p. 301). Overall, the author does make a reasonable claim for a universal housing voucher program.

            Stein’s article discussed one project, the new 111 West 57^th Street condominium, as an example of the type of buildings being built within cities and as an example of housing policy gone wrong. The problem with this project is its use of space. For example, the width-to-height ratio is 1:24, according to Stein, which makes it ultra-thin (Stein, 2021). The reason this information matters is because of the lack of access to people with low to moderate incomes. Most of the space is unused and remains empty most of the year while affordable housing is hard to find throughout the city. According to Stein, these units are between one and three floors with 3,873 to 7,130 interior square feet, while the average size of Manhattan apartments is 747 square feet (Stein, 2021). In addition to the use of space and its vertical sprawl, these units are costly, selling for millions of dollars using expensive marble and furniture. What is good about the article is how Stein presents the fact of these projects’ excessive waste in cities with extreme poverty such as New York City, Seattle, Boston, and throughout the world. He offers a solution for redistributing housing through social housing programs such as the “Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act” (HONDA) which he believes can solve the affordable housing crisis. He stated that the movement to turn these underutilized spaces will be an uphill battle due to the political power that the real estate industry. The use of empty office and hotel space has been discussed by Mayor Adams, but there have not been any definitive results from this policy. So far, it has just been preliminary. Most importantly, what is missing from this article is the strategy to get this act passed and the strategy needed to make this solution viable.

            Although cities like Boston also have issues of vertical sprawl, other cities have had successful housing projects. Schindler and Moyer presented a successful solution to the housing crisis in the example of Millers River Apartments located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The apartments that house the elderly and those with disabilities were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to alleviate the housing shortage caused by its student body. It was turned over to the Cambridge Housing Authority to own and manage (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). Unlike other housing projects, the CHA managed to take this property out of receivership and turn it into a success story for public housing. What was good was the authors’ ability to demonstrate strategies used that made CHA so successful. The successful strategies that worked for CHA were improving administrative and operational procedures, direct engagement with tenants, and transparency with the community in its communications that built trust for the agency. By building trust the agency was able to obtain support from residents, the local community, and government agencies. As a result, the same housing programs that failed most other housing authorities, the Cambridge Housing Authority managed to turn into an asset. For example, “the CHA used a $5-million HOPE VI grant, awarded in 1998, to take out $15 million in loans. It dedicated a portion of this funding to the renovation of John F. Kennedy Apartments, an eight-story tower constructed in 1963” (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). The agency was able to use funding acquired from one program to expand its renovation to other housing stock throughout Cambridge.

            What was good about the article was that it presented strategies that could be used in other cities. Also, the authors were straightforward regarding their argument which attacked the status quo within the United States. According to Schindler and Moyer, “this article is an attack on what has become political orthodoxy in the United States: the proposition that public housing has been a social, economic, and architectural failure” (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). Not only did their article demonstrate the possibilities of public housing working, but they also provided clear strategies that were effective. In addition, they dismissed the fact that a private housing market could be a viable solution to the lack of affordable housing. As they explained that many of the programs from the moratorium on direct federal funding for low-income housing construction during Nixon’s administration to President Obama’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, all have diminished available public housing stock in favor of privatization. As a result, affordable housing has been diminished. Many negative ideas about public housing have prevailed in support of privatization. However, the authors believe there needs to be another narrative regarding public housing. They argued that public housing can work if properly supported, operated, and funded.

            Overall, this week’s readings discussed the historical context of housing and the struggle to find affordable housing. Whether it is eviction, public housing, or fair use of public space to provide adequate housing, these issues were examined within the readings. Desmond argued that housing is an unalienable right that takes care of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He strongly made the case for the significance of a home to the basic needs of all citizens. Stein presented the fact that space is being abused by the extremely rich and this wasted space could be used to house so many homeless and low-income people. Lastly, Schindler and Moyer demonstrated why we should make the case for true public housing by not allowing privatization and deregulation through government programs such as HOPE VI and other divesting strategies to take away available affordable housing.

References

Desmond, M (2016). Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. Selection: Epilogue.

Stein, S (2021). Faulty Towers: Great Sprawl in the Sky. The Baffler. 60 (November). Schindler, S.