May 18, 2010
Rising rents, pricier shops — from northern Brooklyn to
Downtown Los Angeles, these are only some of the changes that
newcomers are bringing to gentrifying neighborhoods that used to
provide working-class families with the comforts of affordable
communities.
Examining the effects of gentrification is a specialty of
Judith N. DeSena, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at St. John’s
University. An expert on urban communities, neighborhoods and
gender studies, Dr. DeSena increasingly focuses on the unexpected
consequences of gentrification on newcomers and long-time residents
of urban communities.
Dr. DeSena shared her insights with a Brooklyn audience on April 22
at MoCADA, the Museum of
Contemporary African Diasporan Arts. Signing copies of her latest
book, Gentrification & Inequality in Brooklyn: The New Kids on
the Block, Dr. DeSena discussed her analysis of the way
gentrification often seems to build two distinct communities in one
neighborhood—that of long-standing, lower income residents and more
affluent newcomers.
Published in 2009, Dr. DeSena’s book examines how working-class
residents confront the everyday changes their new, affluent
neighbors bring to a gentrifying neighborhood. The book ultimately
suggests that gentrification often aggravates social segregation,
creating two distinct social and economic entities within one
community.
The author of various books and scholarly articles, Dr. DeSena has
taught graduate and undergraduates courses on research methods, the
sociology of neighborhoods, community, deviance and gender.