Objectives of
Henson & Munsey’s (2014) article is to correlate changes in
residential segregation dynamics over a 50-year period with the social
processes of isolation (black isolation from white and white isolation
from black) in Birmingham, Alabama. On the other word, this study
illustrated the spatial distribution of cultural attitudes and the relationality of space and the effect of segregation on that relationality. According to Cultural Capital approach from Bourdieu, Space is made up of the material flow of money and people/bodies. The processes and flows produce and reproduce racialized spaces (racial isolation and economic accumulation) in the real world.
Cultural Capital, particularly in racial capitals or spatialized social structure
in Birmingham, are developed by the three primary positions of the
structure; the first is wealthy White, the second is middle-class and
low-income Whites and the third position is Black. Internalization of
this social position (that shapes the behavior of particular social
agents) is known as Habitus concept.
It operates in fields in which agents of differing social position use
their capital to struggling over a particular resource (p. 999). Using urban geography methods (Geographic
Information System/GIS analysis of segregation, participant observation
in the alternative food meetings, and In-depth interview with leaders
or important actors in the food movement, civic, and business leader) the study shows that the dominant habitus in Birmingham’s local food and agriculture movement is racialized White, which they dominate the philanthropic and non-profit sector in Birmingham.
It was interesting to analyze the dialectical relationship between habitus and space in the context of social and spatial segregation. Different to Green et. al article before which focuses on the resiliency of black farmer’s
livelihood system in southern America (power relation approach), Henson
& Munsey’s are more concentrate on the relationship between space,
culture, and practice in the urban movement/community context. This
article is excellence because they can deliver a detailed visualization
about social segregation in the urban areas during a long
period/processes. Reading this paper is a great exercise to understand
“community structure” in the different lenses (post-modern theory and
urban geography).
original article:
picture: here
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