Gentrifier

Gentrifier demystifies the idea of gentrification by opening a conversation that links the theoretical and the grassroots, spanning the literature of urban sociology, geography, planning, policy, and more.

John Joe Schlichtman is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at DePaul University.
Patch Jason :

Jason Patch is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Roger Williams University.
Hill Marc Lamont :

Marc Lamont Hill is Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Morehouse College.
Marcuse Peter :

Peter Marcuse is a German-American lawyer and Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at Columbia University. Marcuse holds a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD from UC Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.

"This is a very interesting piece of work that is likely to draw some attention and may even create some controversy in the gentrification studies circle."

Sheila Foster:

"[Gentrifier] is a powerful reminder of the need for a new framework for urban development that re-imagines and re-situates the position of a variety of actors in the urban/suburban landscape."

Amy Starechesk:

"The authors are well-aware that they risk being self-serving, defensive, or even ‘whiny’ as they attempt to stake a position in this complex terrain, as both academics and gentrifiers. But by making themselves and their choices part of the analysis, they have produced a unique and important contribution to the progressive literature on gentrification, one that truly does work in the much-sought middle ground between supply and demand side explanations of this form of urban change."

Brentin Mock:

"In their book Gentrifier, instead of trying to solve the gentrification Rubik’s cube, they decide to pull it apart, block-by-block, naming each part and its role in neighborhood change. The book provides not only a glossary of terms, but also tools and rules of engagement for deploying this thing that—if we can all agree on nothing else—has now become a fully loaded and weaponized word. The function of this breakdown is that by using a more scrupulous lexicon for describing the changes happening to one’s neighborhood or environment, legislators and regulators can be more responsive and accurate in their policy proposals."

Daniel Brook:

“The co-authors of Gentrifier take a daring tack: Professors all, they break the third wall of social science to admit that their interest is not purely academic.” Gentrifiers themselves, Schlichtman, Patch and Hill “believe that by sharing their experiences, they can help make sociological sense of this fraught topic.”

Peter Matthews:

‘This book provides a welcome corrective to the slap-dash way ‘gentrification’ is used as an explanatory force in popular narratives … It would be a valuable addition to reading lists on urban studies, urban geography and urban planning.’

D. Fasenfest:

‘Highly Recommended.’

Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University and author of 'Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America' :

"Gentrifier is the sort of book that vintage, pre-Kardashian Kanye West might have written had he had a PhD in urban policy, supplying it with an irresistible hook: "We're all gentrifiers, I'm just the first to admit it." Schlichtman, Patch, and Hill help us shelve what we thought we knew about gentrification, and give us instead a brutally honest reckoning with the ills, conveniences and virtues – but especially the consequences on the vulnerable – of gentrification. They ably wrestle with a characteristic facet of modern existence, rescuing the term from automatic demonization while never once letting it off the hook for the damage it can do."

Mary Pattillo, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, Northwestern University:

"John Joe Schlichtman, Jason Patch and Marc Lamont Hill clearly engage in the theoretical and policy debates surrounding gentrification while offering very smart analyses of their own narratives. There is a lot out there on gentrification but Gentrifier is most definitely fresh!"

John L. Jackson, Jr., Richard Perry University Professor and Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania:

"Gentrifier does a masterful job of explaining, unpacking, and grounding the key analytical concepts that underpin debates on gentrification. In clear, readable, and entertaining prose, John Joe Schlichtman, Jason Patch and Marc Lamont Hill make gentrification more tangible and relevant as an important social topic worthy of rigorous and careful understanding."