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The Homeland Archipelago

Neoliberal Urban Governance after September 11

University of Pennsylvania, mruben{at}gmail.com

Jeff Maskovsky

Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

In the post-9/11 period, the power of the concept of neoliberalism to describe US social and political dynamics has been questioned, particularly in light of discourses emphasizing the disaggregation of state power. Relying primarily on ethnographic data collected in Philadelphia between 2000 and 2005, this article examines the melding of neoliberal governance and Homeland Security ideology in the figure of `home', as a social construct more collective than the individual and more private than the community. Examining the arenas of community-based policing through Town Watch, and urban redevelopment through eminent domain, the article argues that the protection of `home' has become a mechanism through which the sometimes contradictory imperatives of capitalism and state governance may be promoted by municipalities and contested by urban residents, particularly those in minority and working-class communities.

Key Words: disaggregation of the state • eminent domain • Homeland Security • neoliberalism • poverty • race • Town Watch • urban ethnography • urban governance • War on Drugs • War on Terror

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