Series:

SpringerBriefs in Sociology

2 total works

Cover of Artistic Enclaves in the Post-Industrial City
This SpringerBriefs presents a case study and theoretical analysis of an artistic enclave that emerged within Lawrenceville Pittsburgh. It briefly describes the history of greater Pittsburgh, and Lawrenceville’s transition from thriving blue-collar community to depopulated low-income neighborhood to gentrifying site of artistic and creative culture. It draws on multiple methods (e.g., interviews, observations, and survey data) to discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with being a Pittsburgh artist, and offer a detailed description of the origins and ongoing development of Lawrenceville’s artistic enclave. It discusses this enclave in the context of sociological, historical, and interdisciplinary work on urban artistic communities (i.e., bohemian and quasi-bohemian communities), and situates it within the larger urban artistic tradition, and within its contemporary urban context. It maintains that this enclave constitutes a successful (i.e., sustainable) example of anartistic creative class enclave, a heuristic concept that clarifies and amends Richard Florida’s brief commentary on contemporary urban artistic life. It concludes by offering policy suggestions for those who wish to promote such enclaves, and a preliminary critical appraisal of their potential impact on society. 

Cover of Contemporary Bohemia: A Case Study of an Artistic Community in Philadelphia

This book presents an investigation and assessment of an artistic community that emerged within Philadelphia's Fishtown and the nearby neighborhood of Kensington. The book starts out by examining historical and sociological work on bohemia, and then provides a detailed history of greater Philadelphia and the Fishtown/Kensington region. After analyzing the ways in which Fishtown/Kensington's artistic community maintains continuity with bohemian tradition, it demonstrates that this community has decoupled traditional bohemian practices from their anti-bourgeois foundation. The book also demonstrates that this community helped generate and maintains overlapping membership with a larger community of hipsters. It concludes by defining the area's artistic community as an artistic bohemian lifestyle community, and argues that the artistic activities and cultural practices exhibited by the community are not unique, and have significant implications for urban artistic policy, and for post-industrial urban society.