Homework, October 13, 2011

Malerie Brill

October 13^th, 2011

SSN 182.6858

Professor Galvin

“Civic Ecology, Urban Elders, and New York City’s Community Garden Movement”  Pages 243-255 by Jay Sokolovsky

This article by Sokolovsky describes how in an urban setting, “community” and “garden” goes together hand in hand. There are 300+ community gardens in NYC, and those are places where older people can spend their free time and younger people can learn from their elders. It is a place where people come together to make something beautiful and learn from each other. Many places where community gardens are located used to be trashy and run down. The action of transforming these places to be beautiful gardens is a form of “civic ecology.” It promotes community involvement and socialization. Many people of all ages are involved with community gardens here in NYC, most of the time it is an older person who is in charge of the garden.

Community gardens have been going on for many years. In bad economic times, the community gardens were a source of food.  Victory gardens during WWII and “relief” gardens during the Great Depression are just a few examples of when community gardens flourished.

Many gardens maintain an assortment of medicinal plants that they use regularly for minor hurts. Not only can one find healing plants in the gardens, but the gardens themselves can be mentally healing. Horticultural therapy was introduced in the 1800s and is still being used in many rehabilitative settings.

I loved this essay because I am very interested in gardening and being outdoors in nature. I love reading about how so many gardens are here in the city, and people are coming together to work and maintain them. Being ale to be outside and work with your hands is a wonderful feeling, and I think is very beneficial to an urban community.

“Caste, Politics, and Criminality in Urban India” by Jeffrey Witso (pages 269-279)

In this article, Witso describes the crime in a city called Patna in India. Patna is the capitol of the state of Bihar, the poorest state in India. He describes how much of the crime is run by the politicians and people in power. The people living in Patna were afraid to out after dark for fear of being kidnapped or robbed. For a long time, people in higher-caste systems were in power. Caste plays a huge role in India’s wealth and crime. Many of the corrupt politicians that were being voted into power were in a higher caste system. Because of the caste system, they had more power to get into the positions they wanted. Politics is central to both caste relations and crime in the city. Once the NDA succeeded to get rid of the upper caste in the political system, the political geography started to change. There was still crime, but the people were no longer afraid to be outside after dark.

I thought it was interesting how the different caste systems operate and how they reflect political and personal life.

“The Extended Community: Migration and transformation in Tzintzuntzan, Mexico” by Robert Kemper (pages 285-299)

When Kemper began this study of the community in Tzintzuntzan, he did not thing it was going to be a very long one. But, it turned out to be a 40 year study on the people there and their “extended community.” The “extended community” is the people who spend more time outside of the place where they live. The people who are migrating to other areas face different issues they must overcome. Where will they work and live? How will they handle being away from their old community and family? Kemper has discovered that now it is hard to define who is and who is not a resident of Tzintzuntzan. People come and go constantly. Distance is no longer a significant factor because of inexpensive travel by many different means. Communication is no longer a problem because of phone and internet. The increasing number of students that live outside of the community but come back for holidays and weekends. And the earnings that people are making outside of Tzintzuntzan help keep the community’s economy up. Inheritance plays a large factor in the “extended community.” Older migrants still have homes and land in Tzuntzintzan that will pass them onto relatives. Many younger migrants want to share the family claims by visiting tzuntzintzan on a regular basis. Tzuntzintzan was treated like a closed system by many villagers and anthropologists, but now it is expected to continue growing and expanding.

I thought this was a good article about how migrants continue to keep in touch with their old background, but it was a little boring.  

“Transnationalism, Old and New: New York Immigrants” by Nancy Foner (pages 363-377)

Foner suggests that transnationalism has been going on for a long time. She points out the differences between then and now. Back in the early twentieth century many immigrants that came to the states, maintained relationships and connections to their homelands and traveled back and forth when they could. Many of them planned to return to their old countries. Now days, technology has changed the way we travel and communicate making it easier for immigrants to stay in the country and still be connected to their old homeland. Because of international businesses, the global economy, dual nationality, and a greater acceptance of multiculturalism many immigrants have a more hopeful view of transnational connections.

This article was very interesting and I enjoyed reading about how transnationalism has changed in the past century.