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The Tale Of Two Cities: A Feminist Critique Of Economic Development & Neoliberal Multiculturalism In Milwaukee, Yui Hashimoto

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine how race articulates with economic development in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing on two years of participant observation with the Milwaukee Fight for 15; participant observation of public meetings and days of action; semi-structured interviews with City officials, business leaders, non-profit professionals, and community organizers; and media and document analysis, I find that normative discourses of race underpin economic development in Milwaukee even as City officials and boosters give nominal recognition to racial inequality and purport to embrace diversity and colourblindness.

First, I trace historical and contemporary trajectories of economic development and segregation to show how the …