Detroit Story: The Emergence of Informal Property Relations in a Depressed City

The case of Detroit — a thriving industrial center that has turned into a "ghost town" — illustrates a global trend of moving away from the "welfare state" to a new economic situation. In this new world where social guarantees and stability are absent, informal connections come to the forefront. This is the subject of the book by anthropologist Claire Herbert, who moved with her family to Detroit at the moment when the city was in its deepest crisis. By communicating with local residents and analyzing their practices as an involved observer, the author uncovers a whole world of informal relationships with property that do not fit into the traditional image of the "American Dream." In hopes of finding shelter, Detroiters are forced to operate outside the law and appropriate abandoned homes, based on an ethos of care — the desire to make life in the city bearable without the help of city authorities.

Striving to see the situation of "decline" or "depression" through the eyes of the residents themselves, Herbert discovers the techniques and strategies through which life continues even when it seems that the foundations of social order have collapsed.

Claire Herbert is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon.