Kimberly Kinder and Rebecca Kinney read from their latest books, followed by a conversation and Q & A.

About "DIY Detroit": "Stuck in a blighted city without basic services such as a bus line, what Detroit’s residents are left with after decades of disinvestment and decline is DIY urbanism—sweeping their own streets, maintaining public parks, and boarding up empty buildings. DIY Detroit describes a phenomenon that has become woefully routine as inhabitants of deteriorating cities “domesticate” public services in order to get by."

About "Beautiful Wasteland": "
Rebecca J. Kinney reveals that the contemporary story of Detroit’s rebirth is an upcycled version of the American Dream, which has long imagined access to work, home, and upward mobility as race-neutral projects. She tackles key questions about the future of postindustrial America, and shows how the narratives of Detroit’s history are deeply steeped in material and ideological investments in whiteness."


Kimberley Kinder is assistant professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan. She is the author of The Politics of Urban Water: Changing Waterscapes in Amsterdam.

Rebecca J. Kinney, who grew up in metropolitan Detroit, is assistant professor in the School of Cultural and Critical Studies and Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University.