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‘Creating the community I want to be part of’: Affinity-based organising in a small, progressive rustbelt city

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  • Elizabeth Currans

Abstract

This article explores a small city’s response to the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017. Love, Resilience, Action Ypsilanti (LRAY) focused on community-building and the social justice history of Ypsilanti, Michigan to create a queer-affirming feminist event that intentionally referenced and diverged from national Women’s Marches. In exploring intersectional social justice organising by a queer-dominated feminist group, I argue that organisers’ emphasis on communal care in combination with direct action reflected an affinity-based understanding of community characteristic of this particular small progressive rustbelt city. This example demonstrates the importance of including small cities in urban LGBTQ research.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Currans, 2021. "‘Creating the community I want to be part of’: Affinity-based organising in a small, progressive rustbelt city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(7), pages 1484-1499, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:7:p:1484-1499
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098020966258
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Bell & Mark Jayne, 2009. "Small Cities? Towards a Research Agenda," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 683-699, September.
    2. Gavin Brown, 2007. "Mutinous Eruptions: Autonomous Spaces of Radical Queer Activism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(11), pages 2685-2698, November.
    3. Danny MacKinnon & Kate Driscoll Derickson, 2012. "From Resilience to Resourcefulness: A Critique of Resilience Policy and Activism," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1212, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2012.
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