Building a Du Boisian Research Agenda on Gentrification

Abstract

The study of gentrification has traditionally found its theoretical roots among the debates between production- and consumption-focused scholars, lending the field a heavily class-based focus. Despite some sociological inquiry into gentrification as an urban process that is also racialized, there are several crucial gaps within this line of inquiry. I here argue that a research agenda inspired by the writings of W. E. B. Du Bois can help to more fully conceptualize the intersection of race and gentrification. Drawing particularly from The Philadelphia Negro while also incorporating key concepts from other works, I show that Du Boisian theory can help us to: (1) understand the role of whiteness as a construct that begets spatial privileges within gentrification processes; (2) articulate racialized displacement as a cultural and affective phenomenon; and (3) account for the agency of local residents in augmenting or living with gentrification processes. I conclude with a call to also pay attention to the transnational context.