“Talking Back” to the Paradox of Gentrification and Violence: A Youth-Centered Case Study

Gentrification largely refers to “the production of space for – and consumption by a more affluent and very different incoming population” (Slater, Curran, & Lees, 2004, p. 1145). It typically involves the displacement of low-income residents into more undesirable neighbourhoods (Filion, 1991; Murdie & Teixeira, 2011). In research with a Grade 12 drama classroom in Toronto’s east end, we questioned how this gentrifying neighbourhood had come to experience 7 homicides in 18 months, all within a 2.5 km radius of the school. This denoted a paradox: gentrification should result, in part, in better property values, increased income, and reduced crime – all indicators of a “better” quality of life for residents. However, this violence complicates the community revitalization plan underway, leading us into a two year mixed methods research project entitled, “Youth Perceptions of Violence, Safety, and Schooling in One Gentrifying Neighbourhood in Toronto.”

News reports on the neighbourhood violence cited politicians, business owners, and adults (parents, etc.), but conspicuously absent were youth perspectives. Why are so few youth voices invited into debates about the meaning of gentrification despite being mobilized as the prime recipients of its desired effects? Given this critical omission, we place in conversation different voices (activist, parent, teacher, businesses, youth), focusing on how young people understand violence, this neighbourhood, and the school; in particular the tactics they have used to negotiate the structural and symbolic violences of everyday racism and within the context of a drama unit exploring police brutality of young, Black men. Using an illustrative case study of a racialized young man named Jamal, the paper will focus on the socio-spatial perspectives of differently situated youth and how they experience violence, safety, and security in a neighbourhood that has not kept pace with the promise of increased safety, and access to opportunities and resources.