The Dignity of Resistance

Roberta M. Feldman is Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture and the Co-Director of the City Design Center at the College of Architecture and the Arts, University of Illinois, Chicago. Susan Stall is Chair of the Sociology Department and Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University.

• Foreword Sheila Radford-Hill; Preface and acknowledgments; Part I. Introduction: 1. Struggle for homeplace; Part II. Wentworth Gardens' Historic Context: 2. US public housing policies: Wentworth Gardens' historic backdrop; 3. Memory of a better past, reality of the present: the impetus for resident activism; Part III. Everyday Resistance in the Expanded Private Sphere: 4. The community household: the foundation of everyday resistance; 5. The local advisory council (LAC): a site of women-centered organizing; 6. Women-centered leadership: a case study; 7. The appropriation of homeplace: organizing for the spatial resources to sustain everyday life; Part IV. Transgressive Resistance in the Public Sphere: 8. The White Sox Battle: protest and betrayal; 9. Linking legal action and economic development: tensions and strains; 10. Becoming resident managers: a bureaucratic quagmire; Part V. Conclusions: 11. Resistance in context; Epilogue; Appendices; References; Index.

"Reveals the inadequacy of public housing policy and the contradictory approaches that typically fail to take into consideration the needs and perspectives of low-income residents. All urban policy-makers should heed the many lessons embedded in this richly detailed study. The significance of The Dignity of Resistance lies not only in the richness of detail the authors provide, but also in the way the authors weave description, biographical narratives of the activists, and theoretical analysis throughout the chapters. Given the interdisciplinary approach, the book should be of interest to urban studies scholars, social geographers, sociologists, women's studies faculty, and social policy analysts as well as anyone advocating for the right of low-income residents to a decent quality of life." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research