Growing old in el barrio / Judith Noemí Freidenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Freidenberg, Judith.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Older people--New York (State)--New York.

Older people.

Older people--New York (State)--New York--Economic conditions.

Puerto Ricans--New York (State)--New York.

Puerto Ricans.

Economic conditions.

New York (State)--New York.

Harlem (New York, N.Y.).

Physical Description:

xi, 310 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2000]

Summary:

What is daily life like for an elderly person whose income barely covers basic needs? How is life constrained if that person is living within the same marginal enclave to which she first migrated decades ago? How does the implementation of national policies and programs affect the daily life of those growing old in Spanish Harlem?

In Growing Old in El Barrio, Judith Freidenberg addresses these questions by examining the life-course and daily experiences of the elderly residents of El Barrio. She interweaves the economy of immigrant neighborhoods with the personal experiences of Latinos aging in Harlem -- such as Dona Emiliana, who lived in Spanish Harlem from her migration in 1948 to her death in 1995. Freidenberg further links policy issues to social issues critical to the daily lives of this population.

Combining extensive fieldwork interviews with historical and demographic population data, Growing Old in El Barrio paints an ethnographic picture of aging in Spanish Harlem and illustrates the emergence of New York as a city divided by ethnicity and class.

Contents:

Introduction: Contexts of Immigrant Experience: Aging in Place 1

Part I Growing Old 11

1. From New Harlem to El Barrio de Nueva York: A Social History of East Harlem, 1658-1948 12

2. "Yo Aprendi de Todo Gracias a la Providencia" (I Learned to Do Everything Thanks to Providence): Growing Up a Manual Laborer in an Export-Oriented Economy (1902-1948) 20

Part II Growing Old in El Barrio 45

3. "Buscando Ambiente": Searching for a Better Life in a Barrio in the United States 46

4. "El Barrio de Nueva York": From the 1950s to the 1990s 66

5. "Aqui Yo Me Mate Trabajando" (Here I Killed Myself Working): Work Trajectories and Experiences in the Labor Structure 73

Part III Being Old in El Barrio 99

6. "La Edad Es Segun la Persona" (Age Depends on the Person): The Meanings of Being Old 100

7. "Los Doctores No Pueden Curar Todas las Enfermedades" (Doctors Cannot Cure All Illnesses): Illness of the Soul and of the Body 123

8. "Usted Sabe Lo Triste Que Es Eso? No Tener Quien Vele por Uno?" (Do You Know How Sad That Is? Not Having Someone Watch Out There for You?): Connections and Illness of the Soul 153

9. "Estamos Pobres de Dinero Pero Somos Todos Ricos" (We Are Poor in Money, But We Are All Rich): Coping with Economic Constraints in Daily Life 178

Part IV Policy Ethnography of Aging in El Barrio 205

10. El Barrio: A Metaphor for Social Issues in New York City 208

11. "Nadie Sabe Donde Va a Parar El Barrio" (Nobody Knows Where El Barrio Will End Up): Local-Level Policy-Making 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-294) and indexes.

ISBN:

0814727026

0814727034

OCLC:

44427090