The Early Gentrifier: Weaving a Nostalgia Narrative on the Lower East Side

Abstract

Focusing on the consequences of social and cultural displacement from commercial gentrification, this article examines the perspective of "early gentrifiers" decades after they moved into the neighborhood. Based on ethnographic data collected on the Lower East Side-a gentrified neighborhood with new bars-this article analyzes how new nightlife triggered early gentrifiers to weave a "nostalgia narrative" from their experiences. They use this narrative to construct a new local identity as the neighborhood's symbolic "owners," which helps them in their collective action against bars. Their narrative, however, contains internal contradictions that reveal several issues with their new identity. I argue that a cultural analysis of early gentrifiers reveals significant social configurations in gentrified neighborhoods and informs us of the relationship between ideology and action.

The role of self-gentrification in sustainable tourism: Indigenous entrepreneurship at Honghe Hani Rice Terraces World Heritage Site, China

“…Moving forward from whether gentrification helps or harms existing communities, this article addresses an under-explored area in the literature -how long-term Side, New York (Ocejo, 2011). However, the above case illustrates defensive strategies by the long-term residents to counter the advance of gentrification, rather than any proactive approach to improve their own socio-economic standing.…”

Creating transregional collective nostalgia: the organising role of Catholic parishes among Louisiana migrants in Great Migration-era Los Angeles

“…families, religious communities, or a generation of people with shared experiences) collectively shape what is remembered (Davis 1979;Milligan 2003;Zerubavel 1996, 289). Collective nostalgia (one form of collective memory) is a significant emotional mechanism evoked when moving from one place to another, repairing discontinuity by re-linking positive memories of a selectively remembered past (or expectations of future interactions) to the lost place (Borer 2010;Mazumdar et al 2000;Milligan 1998Milligan , 2003Ocejo 2011;Snyder 1991;Wilson 2005). It is tied to symbolic and physical features of mnemonic places through the interactional past, which is a constantly reinterpreted collection of memories and experiences linked to place through repeated interactions (Milligan 1998;Ocejo 2011;Wolf 2002).…”

“…Collective nostalgia (one form of collective memory) is a significant emotional mechanism evoked when moving from one place to another, repairing discontinuity by re-linking positive memories of a selectively remembered past (or expectations of future interactions) to the lost place (Borer 2010;Mazumdar et al 2000;Milligan 1998Milligan , 2003Ocejo 2011;Snyder 1991;Wilson 2005). It is tied to symbolic and physical features of mnemonic places through the interactional past, which is a constantly reinterpreted collection of memories and experiences linked to place through repeated interactions (Milligan 1998;Ocejo 2011;Wolf 2002). Mnemonic places impart meaning to people's past experiences (Milligan 1998;Ocejo 2011) and can be created in both transnational (Mazumdar et al 2000) and transregional migrant-receiving destinations.…”

“…It is tied to symbolic and physical features of mnemonic places through the interactional past, which is a constantly reinterpreted collection of memories and experiences linked to place through repeated interactions (Milligan 1998;Ocejo 2011;Wolf 2002). Mnemonic places impart meaning to people's past experiences (Milligan 1998;Ocejo 2011) and can be created in both transnational (Mazumdar et al 2000) and transregional migrant-receiving destinations.…”

Sowing Seeds of Displacement: Gentrification and Food Justice in Oakland, CA

“…Given these ethics, it's not surprising that Phat Beets organizers were livid at seeing their garden used to attract the kind of affluent newcomers whose arrival often signals the racialized dispossession of the land inhabited by low-income communities of color (Mele, 1996;Smith, [1982] 2008; Ocejo, 2011;Hern, 2017). But the organization's commitment to racial and economic justice is evident in every aspect of their work.…”