Gregory L. Simon
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520292802
- eISBN:
- 9780520966161
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520292802.001.0001
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Environmental Geography
This book investigates the ongoing politics, folly, and avarice shaping the production of increasingly widespread yet dangerous suburban and exurban landscapes. The 1991 Oakland Hills Tunnel Fire is ...
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This book investigates the ongoing politics, folly, and avarice shaping the production of increasingly widespread yet dangerous suburban and exurban landscapes. The 1991 Oakland Hills Tunnel Fire is used as a starting point to better understand these complex social-environmental processes. The Tunnel Fire is the most destructive fire—in terms of structures lost—in California history. More than 3,000 residential structures burned and 25 lives were lost. Although this fire occurred in Oakland and Berkeley, others like it sear through landscapes in California and the American West that have experienced urban growth and development within areas historically prone to fire. The book blends environmental history, political ecology, and science studies to closely examine the Tunnel Fire within a broader historical and spatial context of regional economic development and natural-resource management, such as the widespread planting of eucalyptus trees as an exotic lure for homeowners and the creation of hillside neighborhoods for tax revenue—decisions that produced communities with increased vulnerability to fire. The book demonstrates how in Oakland a drive for affluence led to a state of vulnerability for rich and poor alike that has only been exacerbated by the rebuilding of neighborhoods after the fire. Despite these troubling trends, the text illustrates how many popular and scientific debates on fire limit the scope and efficacy of policy responses. These risky yet profitable developments (what the book refers to as the Incendiary), as well as proposed strategies for challenging them, are discussed in the context of urbanizing areas around the American West and hold global applicability within hazard-prone areas.Less
This book investigates the ongoing politics, folly, and avarice shaping the production of increasingly widespread yet dangerous suburban and exurban landscapes. The 1991 Oakland Hills Tunnel Fire is used as a starting point to better understand these complex social-environmental processes. The Tunnel Fire is the most destructive fire—in terms of structures lost—in California history. More than 3,000 residential structures burned and 25 lives were lost. Although this fire occurred in Oakland and Berkeley, others like it sear through landscapes in California and the American West that have experienced urban growth and development within areas historically prone to fire. The book blends environmental history, political ecology, and science studies to closely examine the Tunnel Fire within a broader historical and spatial context of regional economic development and natural-resource management, such as the widespread planting of eucalyptus trees as an exotic lure for homeowners and the creation of hillside neighborhoods for tax revenue—decisions that produced communities with increased vulnerability to fire. The book demonstrates how in Oakland a drive for affluence led to a state of vulnerability for rich and poor alike that has only been exacerbated by the rebuilding of neighborhoods after the fire. Despite these troubling trends, the text illustrates how many popular and scientific debates on fire limit the scope and efficacy of policy responses. These risky yet profitable developments (what the book refers to as the Incendiary), as well as proposed strategies for challenging them, are discussed in the context of urbanizing areas around the American West and hold global applicability within hazard-prone areas.
Jennifer Tilton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783115
- eISBN:
- 9780814784273
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783115.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
How do you tell the difference between a “good kid” and a “potential thug”? This book considers the ways in which children are increasingly viewed as dangerous and yet, simultaneously, as endangered ...
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How do you tell the difference between a “good kid” and a “potential thug”? This book considers the ways in which children are increasingly viewed as dangerous and yet, simultaneously, as endangered and in need of protection by the state. It draws on three years of ethnographic research in Oakland, California, one of the nation's most racially diverse cities, to examine how debates over the nature and needs of young people have fundamentally reshaped politics, transforming ideas of citizenship and the state in contemporary America. As parents and neighborhood activists have worked to save and discipline young people, they have often inadvertently reinforced privatized models of childhood and urban space, clearing the streets of children, who are encouraged to stay at home or in supervised after-school programs. Youth activists protest these attempts, demanding a right to the city and expanded rights of citizenship. This book pays careful attention to the intricate connections between fears of other people's kids and fears for our own kids in order to explore the complex racial, class, and gender divides in contemporary American cities.Less
How do you tell the difference between a “good kid” and a “potential thug”? This book considers the ways in which children are increasingly viewed as dangerous and yet, simultaneously, as endangered and in need of protection by the state. It draws on three years of ethnographic research in Oakland, California, one of the nation's most racially diverse cities, to examine how debates over the nature and needs of young people have fundamentally reshaped politics, transforming ideas of citizenship and the state in contemporary America. As parents and neighborhood activists have worked to save and discipline young people, they have often inadvertently reinforced privatized models of childhood and urban space, clearing the streets of children, who are encouraged to stay at home or in supervised after-school programs. Youth activists protest these attempts, demanding a right to the city and expanded rights of citizenship. This book pays careful attention to the intricate connections between fears of other people's kids and fears for our own kids in order to explore the complex racial, class, and gender divides in contemporary American cities.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.003.01
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter focuses on a routine type of interaction between clients and stylists in hair salons: client-stylist negotiation. In particular, it draws from observations of client-stylist interactions ...
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This chapter focuses on a routine type of interaction between clients and stylists in hair salons: client-stylist negotiation. In particular, it draws from observations of client-stylist interactions in salons in the California cities of Oakland, Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills, as well as Charleston in South Carolina, to explore the verbal and nonverbal strategies used by African American women clients and stylists to mediate their respective identities as hair-care novices and experts while negotiating hair care. For both the client and stylist, the challenge is how to establish which of them would act as the hair-care authority at any given point. To negotiate their expertise, clients and stylists employed indirect and direct discourse styles that are characteristic of African American speech communities.Less
This chapter focuses on a routine type of interaction between clients and stylists in hair salons: client-stylist negotiation. In particular, it draws from observations of client-stylist interactions in salons in the California cities of Oakland, Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills, as well as Charleston in South Carolina, to explore the verbal and nonverbal strategies used by African American women clients and stylists to mediate their respective identities as hair-care novices and experts while negotiating hair care. For both the client and stylist, the challenge is how to establish which of them would act as the hair-care authority at any given point. To negotiate their expertise, clients and stylists employed indirect and direct discourse styles that are characteristic of African American speech communities.
Barbara R. Stein
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520227262
- eISBN:
- 9780520926387
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520227262.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter describes the Alexanders' life in Oakland. It begins by looking at Annie's education at the Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Auburndale, Massachusetts. This is followed by an account ...
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This chapter describes the Alexanders' life in Oakland. It begins by looking at Annie's education at the Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Auburndale, Massachusetts. This is followed by an account of the European vacation she took with her family and the Baldwin family, where she decided to stay in Paris to pursue the career of an artist. When this failed, Annie embarked on a series of tours that brought her to countries in Europe and Asia. A trip across northern California and southern Oregon introduced her to Martha Beckwith, who eventually became her lifelong friend. The chapter also mentions the start of Annie's interest in paleontology.Less
This chapter describes the Alexanders' life in Oakland. It begins by looking at Annie's education at the Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Auburndale, Massachusetts. This is followed by an account of the European vacation she took with her family and the Baldwin family, where she decided to stay in Paris to pursue the career of an artist. When this failed, Annie embarked on a series of tours that brought her to countries in Europe and Asia. A trip across northern California and southern Oregon introduced her to Martha Beckwith, who eventually became her lifelong friend. The chapter also mentions the start of Annie's interest in paleontology.
Dean Speer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813034386
- eISBN:
- 9780813046280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034386.003.0018
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Sally Streets Nichols, who has performed with the New York City Ballet and Oakland Ballet. Nichols defines technique as the training that ...
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This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Sally Streets Nichols, who has performed with the New York City Ballet and Oakland Ballet. Nichols defines technique as the training that will allow you to dance without getting injured. Technique provides the building blocks—a starting formula upon which to develop and expand your horizons. Nichols also says that a good teacher has to both give classes and provide training for dancers to meet the challenges of performance.Less
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Sally Streets Nichols, who has performed with the New York City Ballet and Oakland Ballet. Nichols defines technique as the training that will allow you to dance without getting injured. Technique provides the building blocks—a starting formula upon which to develop and expand your horizons. Nichols also says that a good teacher has to both give classes and provide training for dancers to meet the challenges of performance.
Garrett Albert Duncan
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622098114
- eISBN:
- 9789882206830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622098114.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter provides a critical account of African American language research discourse and cultural imperialism in the U.S. It analyzes the discourses that underlie research on African American ...
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This chapter provides a critical account of African American language research discourse and cultural imperialism in the U.S. It analyzes the discourses that underlie research on African American language in the U.S. that contribute to its contested meanings in the public sphere. It also highlights the 1996 resolution of the Oakland Unified School District in California that affirmed the role of African American culture and language in the education of Afro-American students.Less
This chapter provides a critical account of African American language research discourse and cultural imperialism in the U.S. It analyzes the discourses that underlie research on African American language in the U.S. that contribute to its contested meanings in the public sphere. It also highlights the 1996 resolution of the Oakland Unified School District in California that affirmed the role of African American culture and language in the education of Afro-American students.
Alex Schafran
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780520286443
- eISBN:
- 9780520961678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520286443.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter focuses primarily on Richmond and Oakland and the military-industrial spaces of the Bay Area, on important African American places that struggled with the long legacy of ghettoized ...
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This chapter focuses primarily on Richmond and Oakland and the military-industrial spaces of the Bay Area, on important African American places that struggled with the long legacy of ghettoized segregation and its geographic relationship to highways and heavy industry. It examines the struggles of downtown development, brownfield redevelopment, and the lost opportunity that has been the redevelopment of the old military bases. It examines the interlinked violence of air pollution and homicide that plagued these communities, part of a set of issues which the fiscally challenged cities were unable to meet. In doing so, it highlights the same mix of local responsibility and collective failure that marked the previous chapters. But it also discusses a profound dilemma particular to these communities.Less
This chapter focuses primarily on Richmond and Oakland and the military-industrial spaces of the Bay Area, on important African American places that struggled with the long legacy of ghettoized segregation and its geographic relationship to highways and heavy industry. It examines the struggles of downtown development, brownfield redevelopment, and the lost opportunity that has been the redevelopment of the old military bases. It examines the interlinked violence of air pollution and homicide that plagued these communities, part of a set of issues which the fiscally challenged cities were unable to meet. In doing so, it highlights the same mix of local responsibility and collective failure that marked the previous chapters. But it also discusses a profound dilemma particular to these communities.
David Kipen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268807
- eISBN:
- 9780520948877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268807.003.0018
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
History has played fast and loose with that great segment of the city which sprawls southward from Market Street to the San Francisco-San Mateo County line. Athwart historic Rincon Hill, fashionable ...
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History has played fast and loose with that great segment of the city which sprawls southward from Market Street to the San Francisco-San Mateo County line. Athwart historic Rincon Hill, fashionable residential quarter of Gold Rush days, the streamlined approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge rises from an area of factories, machine shops, railroad terminals, “skid-road” hotels, and Greek restaurants. Westward from the water front-lined to Hunter's Point with warehouses, stockyards, and shipbuilding plants—the district spreads across Potrero Hill to the heights of Twin Peaks, Buena Vista Park, Mount Olympus, and Mount Davidson. A broad residential district whose most venerable landmark is Mission Dolores, occupying a sheltered coastal plain and adjacent hillsides, “The Mission” is San Francisco's workshop, where most of the city's working-class population live.Less
History has played fast and loose with that great segment of the city which sprawls southward from Market Street to the San Francisco-San Mateo County line. Athwart historic Rincon Hill, fashionable residential quarter of Gold Rush days, the streamlined approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge rises from an area of factories, machine shops, railroad terminals, “skid-road” hotels, and Greek restaurants. Westward from the water front-lined to Hunter's Point with warehouses, stockyards, and shipbuilding plants—the district spreads across Potrero Hill to the heights of Twin Peaks, Buena Vista Park, Mount Olympus, and Mount Davidson. A broad residential district whose most venerable landmark is Mission Dolores, occupying a sheltered coastal plain and adjacent hillsides, “The Mission” is San Francisco's workshop, where most of the city's working-class population live.
David Kipen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268807
- eISBN:
- 9780520948877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268807.003.0023
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In Spanish times the distant shoreline opposite the Golden Gate was “la contra costa” (the opposite coast), to the conquistadores. Today, between the shimmering cables and steel girders of the San ...
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In Spanish times the distant shoreline opposite the Golden Gate was “la contra costa” (the opposite coast), to the conquistadores. Today, between the shimmering cables and steel girders of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the eastward traveler sees a continuous panorama of home and industry. The “opposite coast” is now the East Bay, a heterogeneous urban area comprising ten municipalities in two counties. The bridge is itself both a practical and a symbolical example of its close relationship to the other metropolitan areas on the western shore. The hills seem to recede as the traveler speeds down the eastern half of the bridge: he sees a flat rectangular strip of land on which most of the industrial and business sections of the East Bay rest, as on a stage to which the residential hills are the backdrop.Less
In Spanish times the distant shoreline opposite the Golden Gate was “la contra costa” (the opposite coast), to the conquistadores. Today, between the shimmering cables and steel girders of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the eastward traveler sees a continuous panorama of home and industry. The “opposite coast” is now the East Bay, a heterogeneous urban area comprising ten municipalities in two counties. The bridge is itself both a practical and a symbolical example of its close relationship to the other metropolitan areas on the western shore. The hills seem to recede as the traveler speeds down the eastern half of the bridge: he sees a flat rectangular strip of land on which most of the industrial and business sections of the East Bay rest, as on a stage to which the residential hills are the backdrop.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
Challenged by Ku Klux Klan action in the 1920s, labor protests culminating in a general strike in the 1940s, and the rise of the civil rights and black power struggles of the 1960s, Oakland, ...
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Challenged by Ku Klux Klan action in the 1920s, labor protests culminating in a general strike in the 1940s, and the rise of the civil rights and black power struggles of the 1960s, Oakland, California, seems to encapsulate in one city the broad and varied sweep of urban social movements in twentieth-century America. Taking Oakland as a case study of urban politics and society in the United States, this book examines the city's successive episodes of popular insurgency for what they can tell about critical discontinuities in the American experience of urban political community.Less
Challenged by Ku Klux Klan action in the 1920s, labor protests culminating in a general strike in the 1940s, and the rise of the civil rights and black power struggles of the 1960s, Oakland, California, seems to encapsulate in one city the broad and varied sweep of urban social movements in twentieth-century America. Taking Oakland as a case study of urban politics and society in the United States, this book examines the city's successive episodes of popular insurgency for what they can tell about critical discontinuities in the American experience of urban political community.
Joseph M. Palacios
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226645001
- eISBN:
- 9780226645025
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226645025.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that ...
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The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that resonates so profoundly with followers who live under disparate conditions? What is it, for instance, that binds parishioners in America with those in Mexico? For the author of this book, what unites Catholics is a sense of being Catholic—a social imagination that motivates them to promote justice and build a better world. In this book, he gives readers a feeling for what it means to be Catholic and put one's faith into action. Tracing the practices of a group of parishioners in Oakland, California, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico, the author reveals parallels—and contrasts—in the ways these ordinary Catholics receive and act on a church doctrine that emphasizes social justice. Whether they are building a supermarket for the low-income elderly or waging protests to promote school reform, these parishioners provide important insights into the construction of the Catholic social imagination. Throughout, the author also offers important new cultural and sociological interpretations of Catholic doctrine on issues such as poverty, civil and human rights, political participation, and the natural law.Less
The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that resonates so profoundly with followers who live under disparate conditions? What is it, for instance, that binds parishioners in America with those in Mexico? For the author of this book, what unites Catholics is a sense of being Catholic—a social imagination that motivates them to promote justice and build a better world. In this book, he gives readers a feeling for what it means to be Catholic and put one's faith into action. Tracing the practices of a group of parishioners in Oakland, California, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico, the author reveals parallels—and contrasts—in the ways these ordinary Catholics receive and act on a church doctrine that emphasizes social justice. Whether they are building a supermarket for the low-income elderly or waging protests to promote school reform, these parishioners provide important insights into the construction of the Catholic social imagination. Throughout, the author also offers important new cultural and sociological interpretations of Catholic doctrine on issues such as poverty, civil and human rights, political participation, and the natural law.
Marta Gutman
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226311289
- eISBN:
- 9780226156156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226156156.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
As reform politicians swept to victory and women won the right to vote in California, clubwomen insisted that children had a right to play in public playgrounds and recreation centers. The Oakland ...
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As reform politicians swept to victory and women won the right to vote in California, clubwomen insisted that children had a right to play in public playgrounds and recreation centers. The Oakland Club led the drive for municipalization, as developers swallowed up informal play sites, traffic filled city streets, and reformers urged recreation be organized. Ethel Moore led the club to advocate for vacation schools, set up playgrounds in schoolyards, and win seats on the Playground Commission. Elizabeth Watt turned the New Century Club into an exemplar of Arts and Crafts design, and Mary Alexander invested in the Oakland Social Settlement. These artistic, home-like settings, where kids played on racially integrated playgrounds, became the core of public recreation centers. Even if recreation reformers ascribed to the nefarious theory of racial recapitulation, these sites were democratizing, demanded by cross-class constituencies and used by children and their families through the New Deal.Less
As reform politicians swept to victory and women won the right to vote in California, clubwomen insisted that children had a right to play in public playgrounds and recreation centers. The Oakland Club led the drive for municipalization, as developers swallowed up informal play sites, traffic filled city streets, and reformers urged recreation be organized. Ethel Moore led the club to advocate for vacation schools, set up playgrounds in schoolyards, and win seats on the Playground Commission. Elizabeth Watt turned the New Century Club into an exemplar of Arts and Crafts design, and Mary Alexander invested in the Oakland Social Settlement. These artistic, home-like settings, where kids played on racially integrated playgrounds, became the core of public recreation centers. Even if recreation reformers ascribed to the nefarious theory of racial recapitulation, these sites were democratizing, demanded by cross-class constituencies and used by children and their families through the New Deal.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
In the early 1920s, a powerful Ku Klux Klan movement burst forth in many American cities, targeting immigrant Jews and Catholics and people of color and attracting an estimated four to six million ...
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In the early 1920s, a powerful Ku Klux Klan movement burst forth in many American cities, targeting immigrant Jews and Catholics and people of color and attracting an estimated four to six million members. This book uses an explanatory framework built on three basic analytic dimensions: socioeconomic structure, institutional politics, and urban civil society. It introduces concepts drawn from three corresponding, well-known paradigms in sociology and political science: traditional political sociology; the “new institutionalism”; and social movement theory. Furthermore, it provides a case study of three social movements in Oakland, from the point of view of urban political development in twentieth-century America. The focus is on the struggles of groups and actors to forge a political solidarity and community in an urban context. An overview of the chapters included in this book is finally presented.Less
In the early 1920s, a powerful Ku Klux Klan movement burst forth in many American cities, targeting immigrant Jews and Catholics and people of color and attracting an estimated four to six million members. This book uses an explanatory framework built on three basic analytic dimensions: socioeconomic structure, institutional politics, and urban civil society. It introduces concepts drawn from three corresponding, well-known paradigms in sociology and political science: traditional political sociology; the “new institutionalism”; and social movement theory. Furthermore, it provides a case study of three social movements in Oakland, from the point of view of urban political development in twentieth-century America. The focus is on the struggles of groups and actors to forge a political solidarity and community in an urban context. An overview of the chapters included in this book is finally presented.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter presents a baseline of economic, political, and social development in Oakland from the beginning of the twentieth century to 1920. It also discusses the structural and conjunctural ...
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This chapter presents a baseline of economic, political, and social development in Oakland from the beginning of the twentieth century to 1920. It also discusses the structural and conjunctural conditions that affected the formation of actors. The organization of urban machine politics helped foster the process of ethnic group formation in civil society. Patronage offered a solution to the problems of economic uncertainty and group inequality. By 1920, the machine as a whole was rapidly losing its capacity to hold together the actors in the urban polity. As the decade of the 1920s began, Oakland swung into a new phase of urban development, one that was to create the conditions for another challenge to the ethnic machine. This time, however, popular insurgency took the form of a white nativist movement, embodied in the mobilization led by the Ku Klux Klan.Less
This chapter presents a baseline of economic, political, and social development in Oakland from the beginning of the twentieth century to 1920. It also discusses the structural and conjunctural conditions that affected the formation of actors. The organization of urban machine politics helped foster the process of ethnic group formation in civil society. Patronage offered a solution to the problems of economic uncertainty and group inequality. By 1920, the machine as a whole was rapidly losing its capacity to hold together the actors in the urban polity. As the decade of the 1920s began, Oakland swung into a new phase of urban development, one that was to create the conditions for another challenge to the ethnic machine. This time, however, popular insurgency took the form of a white nativist movement, embodied in the mobilization led by the Ku Klux Klan.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter explores the rise of the white Protestant middle-class population and its formation as a group. It argues that the Oakland Klan movement had its greatest impact on the city's majority ...
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This chapter explores the rise of the white Protestant middle-class population and its formation as a group. It argues that the Oakland Klan movement had its greatest impact on the city's majority white population. The rise and fall of the Oakland Klan did not simply occur as an outcome of the interactions between movement and regime, but involved a conjunctural conflict among at least three actors: machine, Klan, and “downtown.” The political mobilization of group identity took shape in an urban social movement led by the Ku Klux Klan. The downtown reformers altered the institutional terrain of Oakland politics. Michael Kelly joined forces with the Klan in a populist electoral alliance against the rising power of the downtown elites. The rise and fall of the Klan movement brought with them the end of popular machine politics and a decline in the salience of ethnicity as a political identity in Oakland.Less
This chapter explores the rise of the white Protestant middle-class population and its formation as a group. It argues that the Oakland Klan movement had its greatest impact on the city's majority white population. The rise and fall of the Oakland Klan did not simply occur as an outcome of the interactions between movement and regime, but involved a conjunctural conflict among at least three actors: machine, Klan, and “downtown.” The political mobilization of group identity took shape in an urban social movement led by the Ku Klux Klan. The downtown reformers altered the institutional terrain of Oakland politics. Michael Kelly joined forces with the Klan in a populist electoral alliance against the rising power of the downtown elites. The rise and fall of the Klan movement brought with them the end of popular machine politics and a decline in the salience of ethnicity as a political identity in Oakland.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter investigates the shift of social and political conflict to the central axis of class. It outlines the structural impacts of the Depression on the Oakland population. Facing economic ...
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This chapter investigates the shift of social and political conflict to the central axis of class. It outlines the structural impacts of the Depression on the Oakland population. Facing economic crisis, the new political elite adopted a developmental strategy and type of governance that is called business managerialism. It concentrates on the paths of formation of three groups: the white middle classes; African Americans; and the ethnic white working classes. Under Joseph Knowland's leadership, the downtown elite consolidated a form of urban governance in the new regime. The Knowland regime met the challenge of labor insurgency with a combination of repression, exclusion, and selective incorporation. The split between the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) unions strengthened the employers' leverage and fractured the possibilities for a wider expression of labor solidarity in the public sphere.Less
This chapter investigates the shift of social and political conflict to the central axis of class. It outlines the structural impacts of the Depression on the Oakland population. Facing economic crisis, the new political elite adopted a developmental strategy and type of governance that is called business managerialism. It concentrates on the paths of formation of three groups: the white middle classes; African Americans; and the ethnic white working classes. Under Joseph Knowland's leadership, the downtown elite consolidated a form of urban governance in the new regime. The Knowland regime met the challenge of labor insurgency with a combination of repression, exclusion, and selective incorporation. The split between the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) unions strengthened the employers' leverage and fractured the possibilities for a wider expression of labor solidarity in the public sphere.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter begins with the structural change in Oakland's racial composition, and in particular the growth of the African American population and its concentration in the city center. It then ...
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This chapter begins with the structural change in Oakland's racial composition, and in particular the growth of the African American population and its concentration in the city center. It then summarizes the elites' efforts to reconstruct a developmental regime oriented toward regional expansion and maintaining the hegemony of downtown. The downtown elite's agenda called for major land-use restructuring in order to reclaim the city center, now surrounded by a growing concentration of African Americans. The renewal projects that were planned for West Oakland are elaborated. In order to preserve the metropolitan dominance of downtown, the elites in Oakland pursued a series of major developmental projects in transportation, economic infrastructure, and housing, organized through a proliferation of semiautonomous bureaucratic agencies. The trajectory of the poverty program in Oakland reflects the changing relationship between social groups and political institutions in the process of mobilization.Less
This chapter begins with the structural change in Oakland's racial composition, and in particular the growth of the African American population and its concentration in the city center. It then summarizes the elites' efforts to reconstruct a developmental regime oriented toward regional expansion and maintaining the hegemony of downtown. The downtown elite's agenda called for major land-use restructuring in order to reclaim the city center, now surrounded by a growing concentration of African Americans. The renewal projects that were planned for West Oakland are elaborated. In order to preserve the metropolitan dominance of downtown, the elites in Oakland pursued a series of major developmental projects in transportation, economic infrastructure, and housing, organized through a proliferation of semiautonomous bureaucratic agencies. The trajectory of the poverty program in Oakland reflects the changing relationship between social groups and political institutions in the process of mobilization.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter addresses the controversies surrounding the issues of unemployment, and relations between police and the community formed the local context for the emergence of the black power movement. ...
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This chapter addresses the controversies surrounding the issues of unemployment, and relations between police and the community formed the local context for the emergence of the black power movement. The proposal for a Police Affairs Committee immediately turned into a test of authority between the city council and the Oakland Economic Development Council (OEDC). The appearance of the Black Panther Party announced a radical turn in the trajectory of black protest. The campaign for the Model Cities program was the most unified example of political mobilization of the Oakland black community to date, and its ending marked a turning point for the movement. In its aftermath, local organizing for black power took three main paths: bureaucratic alliance, bureaucratic opposition, and independent party organization—the Black Panther Party. By 1972, the Black Panther Party had recovered sufficiently from government harassment and its own factional divisions, and had concentrated its resources in Oakland.Less
This chapter addresses the controversies surrounding the issues of unemployment, and relations between police and the community formed the local context for the emergence of the black power movement. The proposal for a Police Affairs Committee immediately turned into a test of authority between the city council and the Oakland Economic Development Council (OEDC). The appearance of the Black Panther Party announced a radical turn in the trajectory of black protest. The campaign for the Model Cities program was the most unified example of political mobilization of the Oakland black community to date, and its ending marked a turning point for the movement. In its aftermath, local organizing for black power took three main paths: bureaucratic alliance, bureaucratic opposition, and independent party organization—the Black Panther Party. By 1972, the Black Panther Party had recovered sufficiently from government harassment and its own factional divisions, and had concentrated its resources in Oakland.
Chris Rhomberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236189
- eISBN:
- 9780520940888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236189.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter reviews the dynamics that lead to social movement discontinuity, concentrating on the problem of urban political community. The historical experiences in Oakland are compared with those ...
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This chapter reviews the dynamics that lead to social movement discontinuity, concentrating on the problem of urban political community. The historical experiences in Oakland are compared with those in other American cities and some of the changes that have occurred in Oakland in the 1980s and 1990s are examined. Moreover, the significance of the analysis for current debates on civic and political engagement and the future of democratic participation in the United States are considered. The Klan's vigilantism conspicuously failed to impose on the Oakland polity a cultural morality that even its own leaders could not uphold. The radical labor movement did not succeed in establishing urban social democracy in Oakland. By the early 1990s, the protest cycle of the 1960s and 1970s seemed ever more distant from the contemporary scene. Civil society in the United States today bears little resemblance to any simple model of free association and organic community.Less
This chapter reviews the dynamics that lead to social movement discontinuity, concentrating on the problem of urban political community. The historical experiences in Oakland are compared with those in other American cities and some of the changes that have occurred in Oakland in the 1980s and 1990s are examined. Moreover, the significance of the analysis for current debates on civic and political engagement and the future of democratic participation in the United States are considered. The Klan's vigilantism conspicuously failed to impose on the Oakland polity a cultural morality that even its own leaders could not uphold. The radical labor movement did not succeed in establishing urban social democracy in Oakland. By the early 1990s, the protest cycle of the 1960s and 1970s seemed ever more distant from the contemporary scene. Civil society in the United States today bears little resemblance to any simple model of free association and organic community.
Leta E. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268913
- eISBN:
- 9780520950092
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268913.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
In the first half of the twentieth century, San Francisco hosted two major world fairs: in 1915 and in 1939–40. A comparison of musical programming for these two enormous undertakings highlights ...
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In the first half of the twentieth century, San Francisco hosted two major world fairs: in 1915 and in 1939–40. A comparison of musical programming for these two enormous undertakings highlights changes in artistic taste and expression prompted, in part, by a new social awareness and an increased attention to diversity. Both fairs marked the end of difficult periods in city's history while nominally celebrating massive engineering feats. The Panama–Pacific International Exposition—February 20 to December 4, 1915—came at the end of the city's recovery from its most devastating local catastrophe, the quake and fires of 1906; yet officially it commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal. The Golden Gate International Exposition, which ran from February 18 to October 29, 1939, was widely viewed as a partial cure for the economic problems of the Depression; yet officially it heralded the completion of the Golden Gate and San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridges.Less
In the first half of the twentieth century, San Francisco hosted two major world fairs: in 1915 and in 1939–40. A comparison of musical programming for these two enormous undertakings highlights changes in artistic taste and expression prompted, in part, by a new social awareness and an increased attention to diversity. Both fairs marked the end of difficult periods in city's history while nominally celebrating massive engineering feats. The Panama–Pacific International Exposition—February 20 to December 4, 1915—came at the end of the city's recovery from its most devastating local catastrophe, the quake and fires of 1906; yet officially it commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal. The Golden Gate International Exposition, which ran from February 18 to October 29, 1939, was widely viewed as a partial cure for the economic problems of the Depression; yet officially it heralded the completion of the Golden Gate and San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridges.
