Framing Migration as Urban Growth in Detroit: the Role of Philanthropy

Keywords: philanthropy, migration, structural power, urban growth, Detroit
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 21

Abstract

In the recent decade, conversations on migration and refugee resettlement as a solution to urban shrinkage and decline in the United States, and particularly the Rust Belt, have increased in scholarly and policy circles alike. There continues to be a proliferation of municipal offices, welcoming committees, and various national and regional initiatives that view migrants as important sources of economic, political, and cultural capital. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in Detroit’s municipality, this paper shows how and under what conditions municipal efforts at migrant inclusion take place. It traces how migration comes to be viewed as part of 'urban revitalization' strategy within the larger framework led by philanthropy and growth elites. Through selective funding and their wide political, financial, and cultural reach, philanthropy comes to acquire structural power and plays an important role in framing narratives of decline and effectuating strategies of growth. Further building on evidence from interviews, document reviews, and discourse analysis, this paper demonstrates how migration is framed and viewed as an opportunity for the creation and expansion of market logic and how these ideas come to be devised, implemented, and replicated. Taking on this example, the paper asks: what is the role of private philanthropic organizations in shaping and influencing urban governance? Under what conditions new configurations of power emerge and how they manifest? And, when and how are populations framed and rendered valuable within processes of capital accumulation?