Gentrification as Urban Spatial Construction of Whiteness: Guilt, Shame, Dissociation, and Beyond

Abstract

Existing urban studies literature contends that middle-class white populations gentrify neighborhoods as part of an economic strategy, but this depiction neglects the role of this process in contributing to achieving their social and psychological goals. After discussing gentrification historically as a racializing practice, the paper outlines “dissociation” and “splitting” as two dynamics endemic to these white populations and that are substantiated in the production of gentrification. This analysis is then elaborated through an explanation that links gentrification to establishing and securing the white identity of its practitioners.