Doctoral Dissertation Research: Population Shifts and Suburban Governance

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Contemporary American suburbs are home to the largest and fastest growing poor populations in the country. In the first decade of the 21st century, suburbs saw their poverty populations growing twice as fast as those of central cities because of both internal population movement and immigration. One result is that suburban communities across the country face the challenge of building an adequate social safety net to serve their rapidly diversifying populations. Two factors have emerged as particularly important in this effort: the presence of a suburban network of nonprofits and philanthropic donors, and the strengthening of regional institutional coalitions that can help implement social policies at a metropolitan scale. However, there are also counter currents, such as the decisions by residents of some suburbs to seek community incorporation and thereby separate themselves from the new arrivals. It is still unclear how these dynamics will play out and what the characteristics of the new American suburb will be. To investigate these developments, Northwestern University doctoral student Elisa Lanari, supervised by Dr. Micaela di Leonardo, will undertake 16 months of research in one such community in the American south. The community is an example of a historically white and affluent suburb that has adopted separatist policies and initiatives in response to the growth of low-income and immigrant populations around them. At the same time, the community also has a strong nonprofit sector committed to helping low-income residents. Therefore, the community constitutes an apt site for investigating the many interacting and dynamic factors that are currently remaking American suburbs. The researcher will use a mix of social science methods to gather data, including: participant observation in nonprofits and at community events and organizational meetings; semi-structured interviews with local homeowners, public officials, business leaders, nonprofit activists, and low-income residents; and analysis of printed and online material produced by media, governmental and non-governmental sources on issues of poverty, socioeconomic polarization, and community organizing in the local area. In the last research phase, she will gather archival and statistical data to provide an overall context. Findings from this research will help policy makers to understand how and why communities that have the infrastructural resources needed to build an adequate suburban safety net do not necessarily deploy them to that end. The research will also contribute to social scientific understanding of the changing dynamics and geography of American suburbs.