Discourses of Community Contestation: The Fight Over the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, New York

Abstract

This study examines community discourses contesting neoliberal urban governance using a case study of opposition to a growth-oriented mega-project. Utilizing the notion of "articulations of contestation" in neoliberalism (Leitner et al., 2007b), it seeks to understand the multiple ways that community organizations engage with neoliberal urbanism. It does so through an examination of community discourses surrounding the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, New York. Employing the notion of ‘neoliberal communitarianism’ (DeFilippis, 2007), wherein community groups are brought into neoliberal frameworks, this study finds this process to be highly contested by multiple community coalitions. In this case, the developer and state economic development agency use endorsements by select community organizations to bolster local support for this controversial redevelopment project. It is argued here that community organizations are not only constrained or co-opted by neoliberal urbanism, but they are also contesting it.

Keywords:

• neoliberal urbanism
• contestation
• neoliberal communitarianism
• discourse
• Atlantic Yards
• Brooklyn