Doctoral Dissertation Research: Race in Place: Evaluating the Process of Residential Integration

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PI and Co-PI: Robert Robinson and Evelyn PerryInstitution: Indiana UniversityTitle: Doctoral Dissertation Research. Race in Place: Evaluating the Process of Residential Integration0825024AbstractThis research project will examine how living in a diverse community shapes the racial makeup of residents? local social networks qualitatively and quantitatively. Data collection will involve in-depth interviews with thirty key informants, ethnographic fieldwork, including extensive participant observation, and 120 social networks interviews with residents in Riverwest, a stably-integrated neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently, there is little empirical investigation of the neighborhood-level relationship between residential integration?the co-existence of racial and ethnic groups in a community?and social integration?meaningful and/or useful cross-race ties. Thus, scholars do not know whether increasing demographic integration leads to the many assumed benefits of integration on interracial interaction and exchange (e.g. resource sharing, improved racial relations, increased access to social and cultural capital that support social mobility). This research will address the following research questions: How do local organizations (commercial, civic, religious, social service) in a residentially-integrated neighborhood facilitate cross-race social integration and/or reinforce social segregation? How do residents of a residentially-integrated neighborhood ?frame? (assign meaning to) their neighborhood? How do these understandings of the neighborhood affect how residents act in and toward their neighborhood? The goal of the research is to explain how residents of a residentially-integrated neighborhood make social distinctions within their local context and provide insight into how symbolic boundaries affect resident interactions of the neighborhood (e.g., where to go, how to interact, whom to interact with or avoid, how to deal with problems). Overall, the research aims to advance sociological understanding of social and cultural processes central to the perpetuation of inequality and to the promotion of equality by grounding these processes in a diverse residential context. By identifying local practices and organizational features that limit or enhance the development of interethnic ties, the research will suggest policies that could support the successful integration of neighborhoods and maximize the benefits of integration.