COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

aiding in the dilapidation of the community, so Damien, as project manager of the St.
HOPE Corporation works towards making the sidewalks look clean and presentable. As
an employee at a local community corporation involved in creating community
revitalization projects, Damien feels that his job and the efforts of St. HOPE will help
create social change in the community. There is a juxtaposition or dichotomous
relationship between Damien’s two roles as project manager of a community business
and a community activist. The roles are in opposition as Damien learns how a business
entity facilitates social change without addressing the cause of homelessness. As a
middle-class community activist, Damien wants to make positive changes, but must
follow the strategies for change employed by the St. HOPE Corporation. The strategies
implied by the St. HOPE Corporation focus on economic development of the
neighborhood. The social context that creates homeless individuals is thus masked
through agendas of revitalization of the neighborhood.
“Different classes construct their sense of territory and community in radically
different ways” (Harvey 1990:260). And the term “social change” is often used
ambiguously by individuals. Varying definitions of social change reveal important
differences in people’s perceptions of “community” and beliefs about how to increase the
quality of life for residents. Individuals, such as Damien, often perceive social change as
a process of regenerating an area through increased development, smart growth projects,
and other projects focused on aesthetically improving an area. These types of projects
embody a dominant belief that social change is made through “progress” or economic
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