Chicago: people, places & the past tells the story of Chicago’s rise to an urban power of global significance. It will be a story of people, the places they inhabit(ed), the dreams they had, and continue to have, and the way in which these eight million people of Chicago’s metropolitan region gave, and still give, meaning to the city’s being as a global city. Through the histories of some of Chicago’s inhabitants, whether they lived a long time ago, or are alive right now, this weblog aims at giving social and historical meaning to the global city concept. My point of departure is my belief that our understanding of the global city, and the way in which scholars and popular media have published about it, has for too long been perceived too narrowly in merely economic and financial perspectives. Admittedly, economics does matter, and its place in an ever more complex web of financial interactions and interdependencies is vital to understanding Chicago’s rise to global significance. But, beyond the economic rhetoric, and beyond the numbers of increasing trade and communication, there is so much more to explore. We need to understand the social challenges as well as the social achievements, which continue to allow for Chicago’s economic expansion. We need to appreciate the many immigrants, who came with dreams and hopes, some of which shattered, some of which succeeded. Chicago: people, places & the past will pay considerable attention to the immigrant experience. Where did they come from? What were their expectations? How did they cope with the many challenges that newcomers have faced ever since they first arrived to the New World? Segregation, poverty, ghettoization, stigmatisation, called by-products of globalization by some, are just one side of the story. Successful music bands, emerging from suburban lifestyles, creative talents, working on their first arts exposition, social workers, successfully trying to relieve the distress of life in the margins of the capitalist world-economy. These people will get their share of attention as well.
Chicago: people, places & the past promises to be 100 % finance-free. It promises to place some of the main social issues of global city life, such as immigration, gentrification, marginalisation and education, in a historical perspective. Hopes, fears, dreams and disappointments will form the crust of the stories. The content of the weblog will gradually be expanded over the upcoming ten weeks, and will consist of three types of contributions. An important part will be a city profile of Chicago, in which there will be a focus on social change in historical perspective. Besides this profile, there will be several contributions that link current affairs to the historical and socio-economic experience of some of Chicago’s major ethnic and social minority-groups. A final project is a Chicago Alphabet, capturing the dynamics and diversity of Chicago in 26 entries. Most of these stories are based on own research in the city over the course of fall 2008. Photographs and occasional film footage will complement many of the stories.
Responses to any article are always welcome using the response function of this weblog. Alternatively, send a mail: hindriks@wisc.edu
List of contents (last updated December 4)
Even the Music is shipped away
Laotians give quiet Chicago suburb new cosmopolitan feel
Chicago2016 committee resorts to deceptive marketing tricks to win over Latino vote
Horrors of Holodomor kept alive by Chicago’s Ukrainian Community
Chicago’s Afro-Americans celebrate milestone, but ‘the fight ain’t over yet’
For 100 years under the wings of God: Chicago’s Christian Chinese celebrate an age of worship
Chicago People, Places & the Past Alphabet; part 1 (A-I)
Excellent but I encourage you to delve in and blog more