University campuses play a major role in whatever city they’re in, from local politics to gentrification and even policing.
We’re in the midst of a new economy, argues urban historian Davarian Baldwin. Today, he talks with guest host Nan Enstad about the role universities are playing in that economy through the lens of his new book, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities.
They spend the hour discussing universities’ real estate investments and impact on urban renewal, gentrification and the displacement of Black and brown neighborhoods, and how campus police shape policing practices across the city.
The show ends on a high note, with Davarian Baldwin describing what collaboration could look like and how we can—and should—reimagine the university as a commons.
Davarian L. Baldwin is an urbanist, historian, and cultural critic and the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His books include Chicago’s New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life (UNC Press, 2007) and In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities (Bold Type Books, 2021).
Cover photo of DePaul University – Loop Campus in Chicago by Shawny Neubecker on Unsplash
