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Detroit five years after bankruptcy: From coercion to consent

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Barnes

    (Australian Catholic University, Australia)

  • Joshua M. Roose

    (Deakin University, Australia)

  • Bryan S. Turner

    (Australian Catholic University, Australia)

Abstract

Critical scholarship has characterised the 2013–2014 bankruptcy of Detroit – the largest municipal bankruptcy in history – as a fiscal ‘state of exception’ which undermined the democratic foundations of urban citizenship. From this perspective, the imposition of emergency management and declaration of bankruptcy were acts of raw coercion. Drawing upon Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony and empirical evidence, including interviews with civic leaders shortly after the bankruptcy, a survey of public attitudes towards the bankruptcy and public records from the bankruptcy court, this article charts a different interpretation of evolving public opinion in the five years post bankruptcy. We present evidence of a popular narrative among Detroiters which retroactively depicts the bankruptcy as a necessary evil, akin to a market clearing signal at the bottom of a business cycle. Far from bankruptcy being viewed as purely coercive, we suggest that this narrative has operated as an important mechanism of civic and political consent.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Barnes & Joshua M. Roose & Bryan S. Turner, 2021. "Detroit five years after bankruptcy: From coercion to consent," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(10), pages 2139-2156, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:10:p:2139-2156
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098020940160
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. George A. Akerlof, 2009. "How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why It Matters," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1175-1175.
    2. John F McDonald, 2014. "What happened to and in Detroit?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(16), pages 3309-3329, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. LaBerge, Alyssa & Mason, Makayla & Sanders, Kaelyn, 2022. "Police dispatch times: The effects of neighborhood structural disadvantage," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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