Harlem is an emblematic neighborhood in New York City, historically perceived both as the center of African American culture and a black ghetto. This thesis explores the African American urban culture at its birth and analyzes it through the portrayals of Harlem in black literature, music, and visual art of the period. The era of the 1920s through the 1940s illustrates most distinctly the dual identity of Harlem as a cultural capital versus a ghetto as the 1920s marked a period of unprecedented cultural flowering embodied by the Harlem Renaissance, whereas the 1930s and 1940s were characterized by the Great Depression and its aftermath. During these years the living conditions in Harlem significantly deteriorated. The aim of this work is to critically analyze the period of African American cultural boom of the Harlem Renaissance years and discuss its relevance for the period in comparison to the artistic reactions to the experience of life in the ghetto. The proposed argument is that the way Harlem was depicted in African American culture and the artistic reflection of its duality characterized African American urban experience and culture in the period of 1920s through the 1940s, concentrating on the problem of urban reality in contrast with urban fantasy.

Empirical studies have shown that single-parent families have been overrepresented in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and the children of these families are more exposed to factors that lead to aggressive behavior. Despite these studies, there is limited literature on the parenting of immigrant mothers that may prevent aggressive behaviors in children. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of single Southern African immigrant mothers in low socioeconomic neighborhoods in California working and raising male children who do not exhibit aggressive behaviors in schools and in the community. Seligman's theory of positive psychology informed this study. Research questions were focused on how the participants make meaning of and positively cope with their parenting experiences. Data were collected through semistructured interviews using purposive sampling of 8 single Southern African immigrant mothers. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, 5 themes emerged: (a) working hard, (b) religion, (c) family, (d) education, and (e) positively coping. The findings of this study may contribute to positive social change by informing policy makers from California and high school personnel about the need to develop programs that are culturally responsive to the needs of adolescents with aggressive behaviors.

Interest in human and social capital's contribution to the desistence of crime is increasingly popular amongst criminologists, economists and policy makers. However, little attention has been drawn to the influence human and social capital indicators contribute towards the relationship between the re-entry process and juvenile crime at the neighborhood level. The current study hypothesizes the existence of a mediating relationship between human and social capital indicators (2000) and the rates of receiving formerly incarcerated persons (1997-2002) and juvenile arrest (2006-08) in 92 Portland, Oregon neighborhoods. Portland, Oregon receives more formerly incarcerated persons from Oregon's state correctional facilities than any other city or county in Oregon. Using neighborhood rates of residents with house-hold income above 50K, high school graduation, and annual income type: retired or government assistance, as proxies for human capital measures and neighborhood rates of residents employed by non-profit organizations, number of churches, and self-employment as proxies for social capital measures, OLS regression and bivariate correlations tested for a mediating effect between human and social capital on rates of re-entry and juvenile arrest rates. Findings indicate neighborhoods with increased rates of returnees have higher rates of juvenile delinquency. In addition, mediating human and social capital indicators affect the direct relationship between re-entry and juvenile crime: neighborhoods with more residents receiving retirement income, higher percent of self-employed residents, non-profit employees, or higher rates of residents earning income above 50K had lower rates of returnees in their communities. Greater rates of Portland neighborhoods which house residents with high proportions of house-hold incomes above 50K per year see increases in the rate of juvenile crime. Rates of neighborhood churches showed a positive correlation with on both rates of returnees and juvenile crime; obtaining a high school diploma was also associated with increased returnee rates and juvenile crime. Neighborhoods with more residents who are self-employed or employed by non-profit organizations had reduced rates of returnees and juvenile crime. Future research and recommendations are discussed to examine the impact of these findings on neighborhoods with formerly incarcerated persons, levels of human and social capital and juvenile crime in Portland, Oregon.

During the migration waves in the 19th century many Czechs immigrated to America. One of their final destinations was the city of Chicago. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries this became the largest Czech occupied base abroad. Over a hundred thousand Czechs lived in Chicago at that time so it was therefore considered to be the third largest Czech city. The topic of the dissertation thesis is the analysis the course of Czech migration to Chicago and the related development of the Czech minority. Key attention is devoted to the socio-cultural, economic and political development of the Czech minority in terms of ethno-historical methods. Furthermore, the author will focus on important historical milestones and events of this city, which in some way influenced the Czech minority. Time definition of work is 1852-1945 and follows from a historical perspective, because the first Czech immigrants arrive in greater numbers to this American territory only in the fifties of the 19th century. On the other hand, the Second World War concludes a period that was important for the Czech ethnic group in Chicago. After 1945 there is a significant assimilation process (the Czech minority is massively Americanized) and the Czech expatriate center is declining in importance.

No description available.

This is a three-paper dissertation on placemaking, urban space, and the Southeast Asian American (SEAA) experience in San Francisco. The first part is a quantitative spatial study of SEAA demographic patterns in the San Francisco Bay Area, the second part is an archival study of community formation through the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation archives, and the third part is a volunteer ethnography with a community organization. Part 1 explores three methods of reporting residential patterns: (1) concentration profiles, (2) density maps, and (3) proximity profiles. I analyze U.S. Census data to map and evaluate the residential patterns for Southeast Asian Americans in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Drawing from the field of urban planning, I report two measures of segregation and concentration (a) dissimilarity indices and (b) spatial proximity indices, and I discuss their limitations. Since mapping and spatial statistics are essential to understanding the histories, development, and advancement of Southeast Asian American communities, it is important to promote their broad usage. The paper's findings lend evidence to three arguments: (1) pioneering moments (the establishment of new immigrant communities) can in fact start path dependent community growth, (2) clustering and dispersion to some extent can be predicted by classic theories of spatial assimilation, but new dynamics are playing out in today’s communities from Asian and Latino origins, including Southeast Asian American communities, and (3) residential clustering cases are circumstantial, dependent on unique local circumstances. Part 2 draws from Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) archival materials, housed in the San Francisco History Center at the San Francisco Public Library, to present a case study of how the SEAA residents and a collection of actors collectively affected the local Southeast Asian American space (1980–2000). This article (1) examines the discourse of ‘neighborhood stabilization’ amidst housing precarity, (2) discusses the implications of refugees as ‘revitalizers’ and ‘entrepreneurs,’ and (3) documents the role of community partnerships and urban planning in building a SEAA community in the heart of San Francisco. Overall, the article argues that efforts to build affordable housing within a unique urban planning environment were instrumental in the formation of the Southeast Asian American community of San Francisco, and it demonstrates how local affordable housing and the built environment in refugee resettlement sits at the nexus of competing discourses about development and about inclusion. Part 3 documents a volunteer ethnography. Thousands of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) refugees and immigrants have called San Francisco’s Tenderloin District home, and their role in placemaking, community advancement, and cultural contributions are harbingers of future demographic dynamics in the North American metropolis. However, this community has been largely invisible in the urban planning and public policy literatures. In this ethnographic work, I document my experiences volunteering with a nonprofit and advocacy organization (referred to as The Center) that has served the SEAA community for several decades. Through these experiences, I find that (1) The Center provides a concrete anchor for the community, consistent with recent urban planning literature on placemaking, (2) the organizational motivations and self-narrative helps staff to confront logistical and contextual challenges, and (3) that volunteerism brings pragmatic resources and provides a critical lens for documenting and recording the history of the organization. The case study illustrates key elements of the political-economy of the social service industry in which the dynamics of immigrant placemaking, community advancement, and urban politics coalesce.

No description available.

This study examines the impact of white ethnic concentration on robbery and homicide in Chicago and New York City. As one of the first to disaggregate white ethnic populations, this study has the expectation that Italian-American concentration will have a stronger influence on robbery and homicide than any other white ethnic concentrations. This study is founded on prior qualitative research suggesting that the reputation of Italian-Americans influences the behavior of outsiders in their communities. The data show there is a significant and negative relationship between Italian-American concentration and the violent crimes robbery and homicide. This relationship only exists for white ethnic concentration with robbery. These patterns occur across both cities at three different aggregate levels. The results indicate that there may be particular characteristics about Italian-American ethnic concentrations which have dampening effects on the frequency of homicide and robbery in their communities; it is speculated that a reputation for Mafia involvement is one of the protective factors.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, to fulfil the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg 2016 / Fordsburg, in central Johannesburg (Joburg) is a globally connected locality hosting 15-20 thousand visitors every month from all over the world. Fordsburg is a microcosm of Johannesburg’s cosmopolitanism and bears a distinctly South Asian flavour. With a growing south Asian and Indian presence, it has assumed the name ‘Indian market of Johannesburg’. The dedication of the shopkeepers to keep prices low and the options of good bargains for consumers has helped the area to develop its own identity. The passion to rise upwards among newly arrived south Asian migrants marks the mood throughout Fordsburg market.1 This thesis will provide insights on Fordsburg as an area for Indian businesses deriving stories of businessmen, and labourers from various backgrounds, professions and nationalities. [No abstract provided. Information taken from introduction] / MT2017

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:22:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carolina Goncalves Nunes.pdf: 9815820 bytes, checksum: 837a2143f59435f46e66f53d0a7e29b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-17 / This paper seeks to map out an analysis of the formation of the territory of the present city of Bragan?a Paulista, investigating since the formation of the first ways of S?o Paulo hinterland that left the city of S?o Paulo toward the study area. Analyzes the important network of cities that forms in the Lopo Hill region and the consequent transformations of spatial domain in the colonial period, such as: training of border between the captaincies of S?o Paulo and Minas Gerais, actors and personalities involved in this transformation, training of religious heritage (Chapel), the arrival of the civil power (Parish) to emancipation; when becomes New Bragan?a Village. All this study seeks to link these changes with what was happening in the economy of the colony and the metropolis, emphasizing the importance of rural districts to consolidate the urban center of New Bragan?a Village, which begins its economic activity based on subsistence and later develops through government incentives, the mixed economy, this development takes place concurrently with the urban growth that is analyzed in the dissertation by the year 1835. / Este trabalho busca tra?ar uma an?lise da forma??o do territ?rio da atual cidade de Bragan?a Paulista, investigando desde a forma??o dos primeiros caminhos do sert?o paulista que partiam da cidade de S?o Paulo em dire??o a regi?o de estudo. Analisa a importante rede de cidades que se forma na regi?o do Morro do Lopo e as consequentes transforma??es do dom?nio do territ?rio no per?odo colonial, como: forma??o da divisa entre as Capitanias de S?o Paulo e Minas Gerais, agentes e personalidades envolvidas nessa transforma??o, a forma??o do patrim?nio religioso, (Capela), a chegada do poder civil (Freguesia) at? a emancipa??o; quando esta se torna Vila de Nova Bragan?a. Todo esse estudo busca vincular essas transforma??es com o que estava acontecendo na economia da col?nia e na metr?pole, enfatizando a import?ncia dos bairros rurais para a consolida??o do n?cleo urbano da Vila de Nova Bragan?a, que inicia sua atividade econ?mica baseada na subsist?ncia e posteriormente se desenvolve atrav?s de incentivos governamentais, na economia mista, esse desenvolvimento acontece concomitantemente com o crescimento urbano que ? analisado na disserta??o at? o ano de 1835.