Description
by Kern, Leslie | Economics, finance, business & management
Published 06/09/2022 by Verso Books in the United Kingdom
Hardback | 256 pages
Staff Pick, Cristina:
A very accessible history and examination of gentrification and its devastating effect on communities and neighbourhoods.
Clearly written and structured, this is a comprehensive consideration of the causes and effects of gentrification. Feminist geographer Leslie Kern shows how gentrification is a slow form of violence, a brutal displacement that is dangerously close to colonisation and social cleansing. Always at the heart of her enquiry is the question of who wins and who loses.
Her approach is to examine some of the myths and ideas around gentrification. Each chapter is themed around commonly held notions of gentrification, e.g., gentrification is natural; gentritifcation is about class; gentrification is inevitable… Kern argues these myths are incomplete, often false, and are designed to conceal the rapaciousness of urban dispossession.
Readers who have read a fair amount on gentrification might think Kern’s book won’t offer any surprises, but Gentrification is Inevitable may encourage you to reframe and rethink some of your ideas. Kern not only details the erosion of communities at the hands of local governments and developers, in the final chapter she discusses possible ways to fight back.
Similar reads:
Regeneration Songs: Sounds of Investment and Loss from East London
A Home of One’s Own by Hashi Mohamed
