Well-Intentioned Whiteness by Chhaya Kolavalli

Well-Intentioned Whiteness by Chhaya Kolavalli

This book documents how whiteness can take up space in U.S. cities and policies through well-intentioned progressive policy agendas that support green urbanism. Through in-depth ethnographic research in Kansas City, Chhaya Kolavalli explores how urban food projects--central to the city's approach to green urbanism--are conceived and implemented and how they are perceived by residents of food deserts, those intended to benefit
from these projects.

Through her analysis, Kolavalli examines the narratives and histories that mostly white local food advocates are guided by and offers an alternative urban history of Kansas City--one that centers the contributions of Black and brown residents to urban prosperity. She also highlights how displacement of communities of color, through green development, has historically been a key urban development strategy in the city.

Well-Intentioned Whiteness shows how a myopic focus on green urbanism, as a solution to myriad urban problems, ends up reinforcing racial inequity and uplifting structural whiteness. In this context, fine-grained analysis of how whiteness takes up space in our cities--even through progressive policy agendas--is more
important. Kolavalli examines this process intimately and, in so doing, fleshes out our understanding of how racial inequities can be (re)created by everyday urban actors.

Chhaya Kolavalli is a senior program officer for knowledge creation and research in entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (though the views in this book do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation). Her articles can be found in Gastronomica, Human Organization, and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780820364094
ISBN 10	0820364096
Title	Well-Intentioned Whiteness
Author	Chhaya Kolavalli
Series	Geographies Of Justice And Social Transformation Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	University of Georgia Press
Year published	2023-04-15
Number of pages	242
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.