Stacked Decks

Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality

Robin Bartram

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780226821146, 9780226819068
• eBook ISBN: 9780226821139
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Social Sciences

A startling look at the power and perspectives of city building inspectors as they navigate unequal housing landscapes.
 
Though we rarely see them at work, building inspectors have the power to significantly shape our lives through their discretionary decisions. The building inspectors of Chicago are at the heart of sociologist Robin Bartram's analysis of how individuals impact—or attempt to impact—housing inequality. In Stacked Decks, she reveals surprising patterns in the judgment calls inspectors make when deciding whom to cite for building code violations. These predominantly white, male inspectors largely recognize that they work within an unequal housing landscape that systematically disadvantages poor people and people of color through redlining, property taxes, and city spending that favor wealthy neighborhoods. Stacked Decks illustrates the uphill battle inspectors face when trying to change a housing system that works against those with the fewest resources.
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• chapter 1.  Stacked Decks
• chapter 2.  Building Inspections
• chapter 3.  Rentals and Relative Assessments
• chapter 4.  Helping Out Homeowners: Changing Faces and Stubborn Realities
• chapter 5.  Justice Blockers
• conclusion.  Reshuffling the Deck
• Acknowledgments
• appendix a.  Methodology
• appendix b.  Building Violation Counts
• appendix c.  Map of Strategic Task Force Inspections
• Notes
• References
• Index