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Close to Home: Place-Based Mobilization in Racialized Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2021

SALLY A. NUAMAH Open the ORCID record for SALLY A. NUAMAH [Opens in a new window]  and
THOMAS OGORZALEK Open the ORCID record for THOMAS OGORZALEK [Opens in a new window]
SALLY A. NUAMAH*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
THOMAS OGORZALEK*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar
*
Sally A. Nuamah, Assistant Professor, Urban Politics, Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University, [email protected].
Thomas Ogorzalek, Independent Scholar, [email protected].
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Abstract

How do racially concentrated policy changes translate to political action? Using official election returns, the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and original data on the unprecedented mass closure of schools in segregated, predominantly Black neighborhoods across Chicago, we demonstrate that those living in the communities affected (1) increase their attendance at political meetings; (2) mobilize in support of ballot measures to avert future closings; and (3) increase their participation in the subsequent local election, while decreasing their support for the political official responsible for the policy on the ballot—at a higher rate than every other group. These findings shed light on how groups that previously participated at the lowest rates go on to participate at the highest rates on community issues that matter to them. We develop a theory of place-based mobilization to explain the role of “the community” in acting as a site of coidentification and political action for marginalized groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 115 , Issue 3 , August 2021 , pp. 757 - 774
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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Nuamah and Ogorzalek Dataset

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