Disappearing the American Dream…Fire Sales and Emergency Managers in the Heartland

Public space exists as part of the democratic process. Whether that space is architectural and relates to real estate, institutional in the instance of public schools, or social with respect to forums and programs that service and support entire communities, the presence and vitality of space for the public is critical to the communication and conflict ultimately required to ensure the survival of a democracy. Without this space critical thought, discourse and protest are stifled. As a visual artist and sculptor, my research questions the politics of artistic and social space in an age of globalization and privatization. My studio practice probes visual ways to represent the increasing disappearance of public space and the social ramifications attendant to that. My scholarly work is anchored in research and works by Rosalyn Deutsche, Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics, and Branko Milanovic, lead economist at the World Bank’s research division and author of The Haves and the Have-Nots. My research also includes selected works on globalization and articles detailing the role of emergency managers in determining fiscal policy and economic strategy at the local level within the United States. This arc of inquiry has produced questions that include but aren’t limited to the following: In light of the pressing global economic issues of recent years, what causes the current and unusual reimagining of what constitutes a postrecession economic emergency at the local level? What role do current U.S. state-level governments now have in determining how and for whom those fiscal emergencies are mediated at the local level? My work investigates the recent and vastly expanded role of emergency managers now routinely installed by Michigan state governor Rick Snyder. I question whether this practice also serves as a test for other states seeking, through the politicization and privatization of public space, to diminish the influence of a vibrant and at times contentious public, and the heretofore democratically determined territory that it occupies.