Intersections between public and private: community gardens, community service and geographies of care in the US City of Buffalo, NY

摘要

This paper discusses issues of public space, citizenship,gender, and race in the light of public relocation ofresponsibility for social services and care to private communitiesdue to the elimination, privatization or devolvementof such services by state restructuring and welfarereform. The presented case studies are taken from alarger study of community gardens in Buffalo, NY. Thismixed methods study found connections between communityorganizations' commitment to community gardeningand their involvement in the provision of social,youth, and emergency services, including after schoolprograms, tutoring, refugee services, and winter coatdrives. The paper concludes that the everyday lives ofBuffalo’s residents within the social, political and economicconditions cannot be separated from the effectsof larger structural processes, such as deindustrialization,privatization, and state restructuring.