Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Fashioning Gentrification: The New Role of Women as Entrepreneurs and Public Characters

本论文将研究布鲁克林威廉斯堡社区的士绅化过程。从事销售时尚商品(服装、配饰)的零售企业的女企业家可能是士绅化的一个重要早期阶段。正因为如此，审美的消费文化可能是社区变化的一个重要因素，而不仅仅是由此导致的士绅化的结果。这项研究结合了档案管理记录和人口普查数据，以及对50名女性企业家和40名其他人的采访，其中包括社区房地产利益集团、长期店主和公民活动家。这些结果应该会对社区再投资的新动态形成一个叙事性的描述，反映出这座城市从一个小型制造业基地向服务业基地的转变。

This dissertation will investigate the gentrification process in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Women entrepreneurs engaged in retail business selling stylish goods (clothing, accessories) may be an important early stage of gentrification. Because of this, a consumer culture of aesthetics may be an important element of neighborhood change, not just a consequence of the resulting gentrification. The research combines archival administrative records and census data with interviews with 50 women entrepreneurs and 40 others including neighborhood real estate interests, long-term store owners, and citizen activists. The results should form a narrative account of the new dynamics of neighborhood reinvestment that reflects the city's transition from a small manufacturing to a service base.