Redevelopment: A Marxist Analysis

The result of a three year collaboration [1971-1974] between the Resolution film group and a number of community groups struggling to save their home and neighborhoods from “urban renewal”. In San Francisco, as in most other cities, “urban renewal” means destroying minority and working class neighborhoods and building lucrative luxury developments. As usual, the key government people have been bought and paid for by the big developers. Redevelopment is a “tool” not in the “here’s how to fix it” sense, but rather as an aid to understanding local issues in the larger contexts of the political-economy of the city and a variety of community organizing strategies. The film has been used and enthusiastically received by community and tenants’ groups all over the country. It has proven itself as an effective means of stimulating discussion in the neighborhood and the classroom.