Impoverished Clientele and Influential Institutions: Perspectives on Neighborhood Poverty near Harvard Yard

Abstract

The role of institutions in the social reproduction of the economic status quo is not a new discovery in sociological literature. However, this literature rarely highlights how the catalysts of poverty are transparent in public institutions like schools, social services, police, or renowned universities such as Harvard. Drawing upon historical archival research, decennial census information, and ethnographic studies from the 1990s and early 2000s in Cambridge, Massachusetts we contribute to the discussions about urban poverty. We argue that there are structural factors other than the widely discussed spread of socio-geopolitical isolation or racial dynamics that prevent poor residents from bridging social distances and experiencing upward mobility. Those dynamics are specifically visible in cases such as Cambridge where the consequences of economic shifts and racial dynamics were not as dire as in other cities, but the exclusionary practices are still present. We implicate systematic ‘exclusionary closure,’ as defined by Max Weber and employed by Loïc Wacquant, operating in influential institutions. Following Wacquant’s lead, we argue that institutional practices and policies have played a large role in creating and maintaining urban marginality and pockets of poverty in Cambridge. Institutions like these, considered foundational to social and intellectual advancement, may be key players in the perpetuation of urban poverty.