Richard Lloyd

Associate Professor of Sociology
Affiliated Faculty, Community Research and Action and American Studies

Richard Lloyd, Associate Professor of Sociology, examines how urban environments are shaped by broad historical changes, and how they contribute to new patterns of production and consumption. He focuses on the longstanding relationships between cities, as both historical accomplishments and dynamic entities, and artistic innovation and economic enterprise in contemporary contexts and the elevated role of the arts in the new urban economy.  His book, Neo-Bohemia, focuses on an arts-identified neighborhood in Chicago, arguing that transitions in the 1990s and early 2000s signal a new urban paradigm that draws on longstanding traditions of the artist in the city and diverges from them in important ways. This new bohemia illustrates the durable relationship among place and cultural production and the changing economy of cities in the context of globalization and postindustrial enterprise. Currently, he is working on a book project that uses Nashville as a case study to differentiate elements uniting the city and musical production: legacy, industry and scene.