Battle for Bed-Stuy : the long war on poverty in New York City / Michael Woodsworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woodsworth, Michael, 1978- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban policy--New York (State)--New York.

Urban policy.

Poverty--Political aspects--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Poverty.

African Americans--New York (State)--New York--Politics and government--20th century.

African Americans.

African American women--Political activity--New York (State)--New York.

African American women.

African American women--Political activity.

Politics and government.

Poverty--Political aspects.

History.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)--Economic conditions--20th century.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.).

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)--History--20th century.

African Americans--Politics and government.

Economic history.

New York (State)--New York.

New York (State)--New York--Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

vii, 416 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2016.

Summary:

"Battle for Bed-Stuy is about an unlikely alliance that changed the shape of urban policy in the United States. The book reinterprets Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty from the ground up and shows how Johnson's "unconditional" crusade, launched in 1964, grew out of the rich exchange of ideas that had been unfolding in New York neighborhoods for years beforehand. The critical neighborhood in this story was Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the drive to end poverty dovetailed with a vibrant civil-rights movement. The book emphasizes the policy role of the area's African-American middle-class, especially women, who acted as brokers between politicians and the poor. In particular, they worked with Mayor Robert F. Wagner in the 1950s and early '60s to develop new social work techniques and a new model of neighborhood-based planning. Such partnerships laid the groundwork for the federal Community Action Program, the centerpiece of the War on Poverty."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 A Suitcase Full of Knives 16

2 Mobilizing the Forces 43

3 From the Clubhouse to the White House 82

4 War and Rumors of War 122

5 Maximum Feasible Bureaucratization 161

6 The Power to Act 200

7 Whose Community, What Action? 236

8 From the Ground Up 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674545069

0674545060

OCLC:

926061467