What is gained and what is lost when a word that once narrowly referred to neighborhood change takes on a life all its own.
Japonica Brown-Saracino, PhD
Professor of Sociology & Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Boston University
Sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term gentrification in the 1960s to mark the displacement of working-class residents in London neighborhoods by the professional classes. Brown-Saracino will trace how the word has far outgrown Glass’s meaning, becoming a socially charged metaphor for cultural appropriation, upscaling, and the loss of authenticity.
Relying on a documentary film and a television series, she will chart how a concept originally intended to describe the brick-and-mortar transformation of neighborhoods has come to characterize transformations that have little to do with cities. She will weigh the implications of turning to gentrification as a tool to tell stories, entertain audiences, and communicate political messages.
This lecture will encourage debate about whether the wide-ranging ways we use the term gentrification open new communicative possibilities or stymie efforts to identify and resist urban displacement.
Lunch will be provided
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
12:30-1:45
Car Barn 427
