 | The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects; AIDS (Disease) -- United States; Gentrification -- United States; Urban renewal -- United States; Urbanization -- United States; In her latest book, queer activist Schulman (Ties that Bind) argues that the AIDS epidemic that ravaged the gay community in the U.S. from 1981 to 1996 spurred the process of gentrification, "a concrete replacement process," not only in New York City, but in the larger spheres of American theater, literature, and art. She seeks to demonstrate how "the unexplored consequences of AIDS and the literal gentrification of cities created a diminished consciousness about how political and artistic change get made." Schulman, who was a member of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), makes a bold argument, linking the rapid decline of the gay male population in New York City due to AIDS-especially in neighborhoods such as Chelsea, the East Village, Harlem, and the West Village-to the trend of homogenization, corporate takeovers, and rising rents. She warns, "Pretending that AIDS is not happening and never happened, so that we don't have to be accountable, destroys our integrity and therefore our future." Schulman's firsthand experience of the epidemic and the queer community should make for a poignant and stirring story, but the author's argument soon devolves into name dropping and discourses against motherhood and academia, to name a few. These diatribes are brimming with so much vitriol that they ultimately come across as the personal agenda of someone with an ax to grind rather than cogent research. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Schulman Sarah : Sarah Schulman is Distinguished Professor of English at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, USA. She is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, AIDS historian, journalist, and active participant citizen. |
