The
Symbolism of Radical Protest
The unrest in the East
Village in 1988-89 revealed the saliency of
production and manipulation of symbols in resistance
to urban restructuring efforts. The radical protests
of the late 1980s were successful in reaffirming
images of resistance to the East Village identity and
thereby thwarting developers’ efforts to sell
the working-class enclave as a desirable middle class
district. By the end of the decade, it was apparent
that prototypical white, upper-class professionals
would never flock to the neighborhood in great
numbers. Likewise, the built environment never
surrendered to the "brownstoning" of
tenements or to condominium conversions that
inundated adjacent neighborhoods. A 1990 Crain’s
New York Business report attributed the decrease
in property sales on the Lower East Side to the city’s
real estate slump and to the area’s reputation
for demonstrations and virulent protests.
Links (click to follow)
Here is a site dedicated to radical protest.
Images
(click
to enlarge)
 Symbols of radical protest.
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The book upon which this
web site is based,
Selling
the Lower East Side,
is available
directly through 
or order through 
Site design © 2000:
Kurt
Reymers and Dan
Webb.
(University at Buffalo, Department of
Sociology)
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