The Center for Ethnographic Study of Avenue B and the East Village (CESAB-EV)
1. Gentrification and Transformation in the East Village:
This ethnographic project (neighborhood observation and interviewing) carried out since 1994 follows the transformation of the East Village from long-time immigrant and artist community, known as a working class neighborhood and epicenter for heroin use, into target of Giuliani’s quality of life campaign and model neighborhood for rent and business growth.
2. Comparative Study of Hair and Style:
Carried out in and around several hair salons in the East Village, this is an ethnographic study of the microsocial aspects of style. The particular setting of the hair salon foregrounds intersectional aspects--gender, race, sexuality, class--that both figure, and are figured in, the construction of style. Observation and interviews from eight salons in the neighborhood since 1997, combined with aesthetic and social interpretation of the role and significance of hair and hairstyle, form the cores of this project.
3. Heroin Careers of East Village Junkies
This analysis draws on the life experience of several East Village heroin users of the 1990s. The ‘heroin geography’ of the area was dramatically redrawn through Giuliani policing initiatives. From site of much of the city’s trade and use, sales were almost entirely ended within a 5 year period. This project follows the experience of several Alphabet City residents before, during and after that time.
4. Third Wave Coffee Alphabet City:
While for some time New York represented something of a paradox in the coffee world--with caustic deli coffee and too few quality cafes despite a large and international population--the role and growth in the last decade of a new wave of coffee culture in New York, centered initially in Alphabet City, has changed this view. This ‘Third Wave’ coffee is characterized by artisanal approach, beyond fair trade standards on growth and importation, skepticism or hostility to Starbuck’s, and good wages and benefits for shop workers.
The CESAB uses Chicago School ethnographic techniques in the long-term study of social life and its transformation in Alphabet City. Participant observation and interview are emphasized in investigating several different aspects of the East Village over time. As with the other centers of the MSC, this one works closely with the CCHIP in the fine-grained theoretical interpretation of results and in designing methodological approaches.
Projects