Who makes decisions that shape housing, policies, and social programs in urban neighborhoods? Constructing Community offers an ethnographic portrait of those implementing community development projects in Boston's Fairmount Corridor, one of the city's poorest areas. Jeremy Levine reveals a network of nonprofits and philanthropic foundations that collaborate with public officials, creating a public-private governance structure that affects democratic representation and neighborhood inequality. Over four years, Levine followed key players in Boston's community development field. While state senators and city councilors often represent new projects, and residents appear empowered through public meetings, Levine identifies a shadow government of nonprofit leaders and philanthropic funders—nonelected representatives with their own agendas—operating behind the scenes. This system is unified by political performances of "community," where leaders claim to value the community. Levine provocatively argues that there is no singular community voice; thus, any assertion of community representation is inherently illusory. He illustrates that community development involves constructing the concept of community as much as it does the physical buildings in impoverished neighborhoods.
