Urban communities / city life Books

Book SynopsisWinner, 2020 Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award, given by the Children and Youth Section of the American Sociological AssociationWinner, 2020 Early-Career Book Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher EducationHow Latinx kids and their undocumented parents struggle in the informal street food economy Street food markets have become wildly popular in Los Angelesand behind the scenes, Latinx children have been instrumental in making these small informal businesses grow. In Kids at Work, Emir Estrada shines a light on the surprising labor of these young workers, providing the first ethnography on the participation of Latinx children in street vending. Drawing on dozens of interviews with children and their undocumented parents, as well as three years spent on the streets shadowing families at work, Estrada brings attention to the unique set of hardships Latinx youth experience in this occupation. STrade ReviewEmir Estradas insightful ethnography reveals the complexity of the household economy of undocumented and mixed-status families in Los Angeles, from the standpoint of children who work as street vendors. Kids at Work forces a reconsideration of traditional notions of childhood, family relations, and work, by demonstrating how children with their own agency and decision-making capacity enter into mutually supportive and protective family and work arrangements with their parents to make ends meet. In the context of a highly-stratified economy and society, where race, illegality, class, and gender intersect to shape unequal life chances, Estradas ground-breaking book uncovers the central and indispensable role that children play as co-contributors to the household economy of our most vulnerable families. -- Zulema Valdez, author of Entrepreneurs and the Search for the American DreamEstrada balances methodological rigor with great empathylikely partially rooted in her own experiences as a teen vendorto develop a deeply insightful and nuanced analysis of the lives of immigrant children street vendors in Los Angeles. Written clearly and accessibly, the book reveals the structural context in which vending becomes necessary, while underscoring the childrens agency that allows them to find meaning in the work they do to help support their families and their own aspirations. Kids at Work will make readers not only notice, but also appreciate youth whose public labor challenges social notions of childhood in powerfully gendered and racialized ways. -- Leisy J. Abrego, author of Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across BordersThis original, thoughtful, engaging ethnography vividly captures the texture of everyday life among immigrant children and children of immigrants who work selling food in the streets of Los Angeles. In the childrens own voices, we learn about their economic contributions, their lives, and aspirations, but also from them about immigrant entrepreneurship, the complex dynamics in immigrant families, and childhood in general. Kids at Work resists facile explanations and makes an enduring contribution to the immigration scholarship. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in immigrant families. -- Cecilia Menjívar, co-author of Immigrant FamiliesKids at Work sheds new light on the role that children and youth play in family survival strategies in the urban commons of one of the most important immigrant metropolis of our era. This book brilliantly shows the agency of these young women and men who actively contribute to the well-being of their families. Emir Estrada has made a unique contribution to the sociology of children of immigrants, studying their lives as they work alongside their parents on the streets of Los Angeles. -- Ruben Hernandez-Leon, author of Metropolitan Migrants: The Migration of Urban Mexicans to the United StatesWritten clearly and accessibly, this book offers an essential framework from which to critically examine Latinx childhood, family, labor, immigration, and community. * Choice *Like many well-crafted stories, Kids at Work left me genuinely curious about what will happen next for the working kids on these pages as they transition into working young adults. Will street vending be a crucial stepping-stone on a longer pathway to better quality employment, or could it be an impediment? Estrada invites these types of questions through her portrayal of the Latinx street vending families that is both meticulously detailed and fully compassionate. This book stands as an important contribution to the literature on immigration and work in the United States precisely because it highlights the fact that informal work represents an intergenerational activity for many immigrant Latinx families. * American Journal of Sociology *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow Iraqi refugees navigate life, belonging, and exclusion in AmericaThe US invasion of Iraq in 2003 caused the largest forced migration in the Middle East since 1948, with millions of people fleeing to Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, European Union, Australia and the United States. In Iraqi Refugees in the United States, Ken R. Crane explores the uphill climb faced by Iraqi refugees who have sought belonging in a country engaged in an ongoing War on Terror. Drawing on numerous interviews and fieldwork, Crane explores the diverse experiences of a community of Iraqi refugees, showing how they have struggled to negotiate their place in the wake of mass displacement. He highlights the promise of belonging, as well as their many painful encounters with exclusion. Ultimately, Crane provides a window into the complexities of what becoming American means for Iraqi refugees, even as they are perceived by other Americans as security threats.As debates about immigration and refugee status continue Trade ReviewWith the ‘War on Terror’ and ongoing panic about migration and Islam, the few Iraqi refugees the US has admitted have faced particular challenges. Ken R. Crane shows how some of them have met these challenges with an account of how struggles to belong—that began with sanction-induced stresses and the US invasion—continued as refugees settled in the US. His up-close analysis of Iraqis living in the far-flung suburbs and exurbs at the edge of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, shows how they “obliquely” resist assumptions about success and the good life implicit in state efforts to mold ideal immigrants, make concerted efforts to maintain connections among themselves, and find common ground with their Latinx neighbors. Based on nearly a decade of research that altered Crane’s own previous assumptions as a humanitarian worker, the book critically connects US foreign and domestic policies by letting the reader follow the evolution of families of different backgrounds and faith communities as they face Islamophobia, racialization, and find their way into new American lives at bake sales, soccer practices and neighborhood tiendas. -- Susan Ossman, author of Shifting Worlds, Shaping Fieldwork: A Memoir of Anthropology and ArtCompassionately and carefully tells the story of Iraqis displaced from their home country and forced to resettle in the U.S. owing to George W. Bush’s unbecoming ‘war on terror.’ Crane poignantly and meticulously builds an understanding of what belongingness meant for the displaced and resettled Iraqis in a country whose political decisions and actions had upended their lives. The book amplifies the voices of a diverse group of Iraqis as they combatted the worst economic recession, the rising Islamophobia and the constant reminder of the violence they fled. A compelling portrait of resilience, belonging, and an intense desire for a peaceful future for their families and community. -- Pallavi Banerjee, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of CalgaryThis book can be a useful addition to classes on refugee integration, migration, and acculturation…the book provides a good, introductory analysis of Middle Eastern homemaking in the United States. * Mashriq & Mahjar *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe surprising and unofficial system of social control and regulation that keeps crime rates low in New York City's Washington Square Park Located in New York City's Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park is a 9.75-acre public park that is perhaps best known for its historic Washington Square Arch, a landmark at the foot of 5th Avenue. Hundreds, if not thousands, pass through the park every day, some sit on benches enjoying the sunshine, play a game of chess, watch their children play in the playground, take their dog to the dog runs, or sit by the fountain or, sometimes, buy or sell drugs. The park has an extremely low crime rate. Sociologist, and local resident, Erich Goode wants to know why. He notes that many visitors do violate park rules and ordinances, even engaging in misdemeanors like cigarette and marijuana smoking, alcohol consumption, public urination, skateboarding and bike riding. And yet, he argues, contrary to the well-known broken windows theory, which suggests thatTrade ReviewBased on direct and perceptive observations, Erich gives us a complete, comparative and comprehensive view of what is going on in WSP. Very wisely, he contextualizes this view in more general perspectives of NYC, the U.S.A and relevant sociological perceptions. Consequently, readers are taken not only to a fascinating social tour of the park, but also absorb outstanding exposes of looking at WSP from different, relevant and insightful angles. This provides an absolutely engaging, pleasurable and a wonderfully positive reading and learning experience. This is a breathtaking text that people will love to read and enjoy. It is both descriptive and analytical, suggesting many insights and most of all, makes one think. -- Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Co-author of Fraud and Misconduct in ResearchWith knowing mind and perceptive eye, this veteran sociologist unlocks the hyper-civility of Washington Squareoften held as archetype for social richness in a public place. Goode displays how democratic values and complex accommodation can live through daily interactionin quarrels and kindness, decencies and, yes, some disrespect. It is, in ways we learn, the blemished agora of hybrid greatness. -- Harvey Molotch, Author of Against SecurityRich in detail and analysis, Eric Goode’s book portrays Washington Square Park through the eyes of an affectionate observer. His The Taming of New York’s Washington Square is an important addition to the literature on this famous public space -- Criminal Law and Criminal JusticeGoode’s study of Washington Square is a deep dive into how this space is used and what we can learn from the interactions within… an intimate exploration of a much-loved place, grounded in traditional sociological concepts. * American Journal of Sociology *The Taming of New York’s Washington Square offers ideas about safety and tolerance in public spaces in cities at a time when Americans are passionately debating the role of law enforcement in society. ... Washington Square Park, Erich Goode demonstrates, presents a model that prioritizes the responsibility of citizens in maintaining civility and relegates police to a secondary role. * Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCities of the Arabian Peninsula reveal contradictions of contemporary urbanizationThe fast-growing cities of the Persian Gulf are, whatever else they may be, indisputably sensational. The world's tallest building is in Dubai; the 2022 World Cup in soccer will be played in fantastic Qatar facilities; Saudi Arabia is building five new cities from scratch; the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Sorbonne, as well as many American and European universities, all have handsome outposts and campuses in the region. Such initiatives bespeak strategies to diversify economies and pursue grand ambitions across the Earth. Shining special light on Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Dohawhere the dynamics of extreme urbanization are so strongly evidentthe authors of The New Arab Urban trace what happens when money is plentiful, regulation weak, and labor conditions severe. Just how do authorities in such settings reconcile goals of oft-claimed civic betterment with hyper-segregation and radical inequality? How do thTrade Review"The book offers an invaluable survey of the topic, and a guide to a vast literature on this increasingly important region that is largely absent from urban studies as a whole." -- Urban Studies"The region’s urbanization has had a profound global influence on the worlds of architecture and urban planning, and on what urban megaprojects are more broadly expected to do in an economy or society... The Gulf, as [the contributors] claim in The New Arab Urban, is not just a passive recipient of urban policy, but a key site of production." -- Public Books"With a firm perspective on regional context and urban specificity, this collection of original essays offers a range of grounded conceptual narratives on architecture, urban planning, consumption, work and daily life in a group of cities––specifically, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Masdar––that embody the phenomenon that is ‘the new Arab urban’." * International Journal of Urban and Regional Research *"Despite the academic interest that the spectacular new 'cities' in the Arab Gulf have garnered lately, this fascinating book argues that our tried-and-tested theories fall short in understanding them or learning from their rapid urbanization. The various essays propose different approaches to considering this old/new form of urbanity, but, together with the editors critical conclusion, expand the domain of urban study itself to draw concepts like mobility, transience, complexity, hybridity, contradiction, spontaneity, and even unpredictability into its interpretive paradigms. The book simply aims to achieve for the study of the 'Gulf city' the same kind of perspectival adjustment that Janet Abu Lughod accomplished for the 'Islamic city.'" -- Nasser Rabbat,Author of Mamluk History Through Architecture: Monuments, Culture and Politics in Medieval Egypt"Molotch and Ponzini promise us 'analytical shock therapy,' and that is what this book delivers. Inspired by Learning from Las Vegas, they ask us to set aside preconceptions, showing that cities really can be created with land monopoly and a potent mix of spectacle, inequality and authoritarianism. Whats more, these are not one-offs, but test beds for new globalizing forms of city building, as they are emulated and exported. There is urgent need to understand them, and for disquiet." -- Michael Storper,Co-author of The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies: Lessons from San Francisco and Los Angeles"The New Arab Urban is a magisterial account of the densely settled Arab Gulf... a memorable work on the urbanization of the Arab Gulf, one that will be indispensable to future research and scholarship on the region." * Global Policy Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is the relationship between race and space, and how do racial politics inform the organization and development of urban locales?In Race and the Politics of Deception, Christopher Mele unpacks America's history of dealing with racial problems through the inequitable use of public space. Mele focuses on Chester, Pennsylvaniaa small city comprised of primarily low-income, black residents, roughly twenty miles south of Philadelphia. Like many cities throughout the United States, Chester is experiencing post-industrial decline. A development plan touted as a way to save the city, proposes to turn one section into a desirable waterfront destination, while leaving the rest of the struggling residents in fractured communities. Dividing the city into spaces of tourism and consumption versus the everyday spaces of low-income residents, Mele argues, segregates the community by creating a racialized divide. While these development plans are described as socially inclusive and economically revTrade Review"Christopher MelesRace and the Politics of Deceptionprovides an interesting and highly readable political and economic history of Chester, Pennsylvania, a small industrial city located in the southeastern corner of the state, between Philadelphia and Wilmington." * American Journal of Sociology *"Race and the Politics of Deceptionunmasks the brutal, insidious, and predatory politics of a political machine that raped and plundered the City of Chester, Pennsylvania...Meles research is rich and substantive." * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Book Reviews *"A strength of the book is a good number of concrete accounts of how the local politics of urban development is consistently and strategically anchored in the ideologies and rhetoric of race." * Choice *"Race and the Politics of Deception is a classic study which painstakingly details cities development and demise alongside their being inextricably tied to race and space. Mele's relational approach outlining contemporary urban social lifedeindustrialization, globalization, and continued structural inequalityadds to the social history of cities and the structural inequality plaguing American cities and their residents. A great read!" -- Marlese Durr,co-editor of Race, Work, and Family in the Lives of African Americans"Race and the Politics of Deception makes a strong contribution to urban studies in exploring the dynamics of urban change within broader contexts of racial and historical inequity. Its nuanced analyses of the historical, local politics of Chester would be a fantastic teaching resource in history, urban studies, and sociology departments alike. In particular, the text serves as a prime teaching tool for historical methodologies that seek to explore race and racial politics." -- Tali Ziv,City & Society"By not only recounting a tale of past racism and urban development, but examining how a & new racism inscribes an old white supremacy onto the boneyards of contemporary spaces of exploitation, Mele neatly explains how contemporary white supremacynot the Donald Trump alt-right kind, but the Hillary Clinton/Paul Ryan neoliberal marketized brandwill continue to haunt us all." -- Corey Dolgon * International Journal of Urban and Regional Research *"In our current political moment, Race and the Politics of Deception reminds us exactly how racial deceptions continue to make America unequal, not just unequal American cities. . . . Ultimately, Meles careful analysis warns us that the strategic manipulation of race and racist ideologies for profit not only undermines cities like Chester, but poses a growing threat to American democracy itself." -- Jacob S. Rugh * Contexts *"Mele weaves an engaging, coherent, and persuasive story of racial politics from beginning to end. The book uncovers perverse path-dependent patterns of racial segregation that originated in a much earlier historical period, but that are both persistent and difficult to change." -- Daniel T. Lichter * American Journal of Sociology *"Meles book paints a compelling picture of the Republican political 'machine' that dominated local, county and state politics . . . He has demonstrated how business, politics and crime are seamlessly integrated into the body politic, making them often indistinguishable from one another. . . .As demonstrated by this book, urban ethnography, when undertaken with the care and skill that Mele brings to the subject matter, can provide a window into the darkest corners of urban decay." -- Frederick T. Martens, former Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission,Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books"The first impression you get when readingRaceand the Politics of Deceptionis the feeling that youre reading a literary work . . . Meles easy-going and fluid treatment of tricky concepts, like color-blindness,post-raciality, and blockbusting, to name a few, renders them accessible to a wider audience, thusmaking the reading process even more enjoyable." -- Elyes Hanafi * Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography *"Urban America continues to be segregated and unequal. Mele demonstrates that this geography of inequality is deeply rooted in a historical legacy of racially motivated political decisions to maintain economic power and control. He clearly shows us that those claiming race neutrality are playing the game of political deception. For urban development, race, and history scholars, this book is a must-read." * Contemporary Sociology *"What distinguishes Mele's telling from similar accounts of other cities is his focus on the agency and intentionality of urban elites and other members of the local Republican Political Machine in Chester. He uses the term race strategiesto describe the strategic deployment of racial stereotypes, stigmatization, scapegoating, and color-blind ideology as a means of stirring racial animus, diverting attention from political corruption, or justifying neoliberal development policies." -- Steven Tuttle * Sociology of Race and Ethnicity *"A warning to all who think they fully understand the forces that created white suburbs and poor inner citiesyou do not, and you need to read this book! It makes a compelling argument, backed up with detailed data, on how the politicians, business leaders, and developers in a typical American city manipulated race to their own endsnamely profit, not redevelopment. This book is a fascinating and often disturbing look at how racial inequality shapes urban America." -- Nancy Denton,co-author of American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass"The characters and antagonisms in Mele’s account are very much alive for the reader, rendering it a powerful exposition of the intricacy of local politics and the immediate context of racism, activism, and broader economic changes." * City & Society *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow Iraqi refugees navigate life, belonging, and exclusion in AmericaThe US invasion of Iraq in 2003 caused the largest forced migration in the Middle East since 1948, with millions of people fleeing to Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, European Union, Australia and the United States. In Iraqi Refugees in the United States, Ken R. Crane explores the uphill climb faced by Iraqi refugees who have sought belonging in a country engaged in an ongoing War on Terror. Drawing on numerous interviews and fieldwork, Crane explores the diverse experiences of a community of Iraqi refugees, showing how they have struggled to negotiate their place in the wake of mass displacement. He highlights the promise of belonging, as well as their many painful encounters with exclusion. Ultimately, Crane provides a window into the complexities of what becoming American means for Iraqi refugees, even as they are perceived by other Americans as security threats.As debates about immigration and refugee status continue Trade Review"With the ‘War on Terror’ and ongoing panic about migration and Islam, the few Iraqi refugees the US has admitted have faced particular challenges. Ken R. Crane shows how some of them have met these challenges with an account of how struggles to belong—that began with sanction-induced stresses and the US invasion—continued as refugees settled in the US. His up-close analysis of Iraqis living in the far-flung suburbs and exurbs at the edge of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, shows how they “obliquely” resist assumptions about success and the good life implicit in state efforts to mold ideal immigrants, make concerted efforts to maintain connections among themselves, and find common ground with their Latinx neighbors. Based on nearly a decade of research that altered Crane’s own previous assumptions as a humanitarian worker, the book critically connects US foreign and domestic policies by letting the reader follow the evolution of families of different backgrounds and faith communities as they face Islamophobia, racialization, and find their way into new American lives at bake sales, soccer practices and neighborhood tiendas." -- Susan Ossman, author of Shifting Worlds, Shaping Fieldwork: A Memoir of Anthropology and Art"Compassionately and carefully tells the story of Iraqis displaced from their home country and forced to resettle in the U.S. owing to George W. Bush’s unbecoming ‘war on terror.’ Crane poignantly and meticulously builds an understanding of what belongingness meant for the displaced and resettled Iraqis in a country whose political decisions and actions had upended their lives. The book amplifies the voices of a diverse group of Iraqis as they combatted the worst economic recession, the rising Islamophobia and the constant reminder of the violence they fled. A compelling portrait of resilience, belonging, and an intense desire for a peaceful future for their families and community." -- Pallavi Banerjee, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Calgary"This book can be a useful addition to classes on refugee integration, migration, and acculturation…the book provides a good, introductory analysis of Middle Eastern homemaking in the United States." * Mashriq & Mahjar *

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the role of race and consumer culture in attracting urban congregants to an evangelical church The Urban Church Imagined illuminates the dynamics surrounding white urban evangelical congregations' approaches to organizational vitality and diversifying membership. Many evangelical churches are moving to urban, downtown areas to build their congregations and attract younger, millennial members. The urban environment fosters two expectations. First, a deep familiarity and reverence for popular consumer culture, and second, the presence of racial diversity. Church leaders use these ideas when they imagine what a city church should look like, but they must balance that with what it actually takes to make this happen. In part, racial diversity is seen as key to urban churches presenting themselves as in touch and authentic. Yet, in an effort to seduce religious consumers, church leaders often and inadvertently end up reproducing racial and economic inequality, an unexpected contradiTrade Review"The authors demonstrate how the racialized urban imaginary affects the religious practices, organizations, and identity of this recently formed congregation, and the complex interactions among race, religion, class, gender, cultural consumption, and the city. The discussion revolves around the key concepts of racialized urban imaginary, managed diversity, and racial utility. A significant contribution to religion, race, and urban studies." * Choice *"In The Urban Church Imagined, Jessica M. Barron and Rhys H. Williams examine the 'dueling imaginations' posited by Downtown Churchs [DC] suburban-based leaders and city-based congregants as their new congregation negotiates racial, class, and gender boundaries. The depth and accessibility of this book make it an excellent read for scholars, students, and religious leaders interested in the sociology of religion, race theory, and/or the urban landscape." * Reading Religion *"The Urban Church Imagined offers a compelling insight on the organizational practices of white-led religious institutions as they attempt to interact with diversity … they offer a provocative salvo in furthering our understanding of the shallow adaptations of diversity and inclusion occurring in white evangelical organizations throughout the United States. In an era where racial coding and antagonism continue to resonate throughout social and political discourse, Barron and Williams have given good cause for further examination of the intersection of race, religion, and the city." -- American Journal of Sociology"This book serves as a useful guide for how churches may approach attracting new members in a period of increasing racial diversity and declining worship attendance." -- Review of Religious Research"The Urban Church Imagined sheds light on this problematic dichotomy of the desire to reach the urban population and to be relevant in the racially diverse context of urban areas on the one hand, and the implicit racism, sexism, and classism undergirding their history on the other hand … The critical perspective offered in the book has a massive potential as a working tool for professionals involved in urban ministry, both lay and ordained … Overall, The Urban Church Imagined is a practical, insightful, and well written exploration of the challenges of social aspects in urban ministry that carries massive potential for the modern church as a whole, both the urban and the rural, both the diverse and the homogeneous." -- Anglican Theological Review"The City Imagined expertly takes us into the heart of 'new urban' Christianity, a Christianity reflecting a renewed interest in the city, but a city highly constructed to serve idealized purposes. With richness of analysis and deep insight, we learn about the very heart of new America--thegood, the bad, and the ugly. A fascinating read." -- Michael O. Emerson,Provost and Professor, North Park University and author of Blacks and Whites in Christian America"Ambitious evangelicals want to reach the citya dynamic place filled with connotations of fashion, power, and cosmopolitanism. But the desire of evangelical churches to be relevant and racially diverse is colliding with the implicit racism still underlying their history. Drawing from observations in a multiracial evangelical church in downtown Chicago, The Urban Church Imagined reveals how modern evangelicalism is deeply entangled in the desire for contemporary relevance while persisting in racial prejudices and outright discrimination." -- Gerardo Marti,author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church"Barron and her coauthor, Rhys H. Williams, closely observe church members and leaders through interviews and ethnographic work. In doing so, they establish a better understanding of the links between city culture and modern evangelicalism that make Downtown Church appealing to its young members who desire an interracial and hip churchgoing experience." * Religious Studies Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCo-Winner of the 2023 Latino/a Section Best Book Award, given by the American Sociological AssociationHonorable Mention, 2024 Best Book Award, given by the Asia and Asian America section of the American Sociological AssociationThe stories of second-generation immigrant gay men coming of age in Los AngelesGrowing up in the shadow of Hollywood, the gay sons of immigrants featured in Brown and Gay in LA could not have felt further removed from a world where queerness was accepted and celebrated. Instead, the men profiled here maneuver through family and friendship circles where masculinity dominates, gay sexuality is unspoken, and heterosexuality is strictly enforced. For these men, the path to sexual freedom often involves chasing the dreams while resisting the expectations of their immigrant parentsand finding community in each other. Ocampo also details his own story of reconciling his queer Filipino American idTrade ReviewTold through stories that redefine what it means to be a gay person of color at the intersection of homophobia, sexism, and racism... the text smoothly combines personal anecdotes with thorough sociological research, spotlighting those who feel they don't fit the archetype of the ideal gay man within predominantly White queer spaces, both virtual and in-person. Ocampo should be commended for presenting the lives of queer people of color in a humane, compassionate, and informative way. An important book that showcases different models for gay men of color. * Kirkus Reviews (starred) *The intersections of race, immigration, and queerness are as much at the core of Ocampo’s book as bigger-picture analyses of masculinity. This book is the best platform to dive into the matter and reemerge feeling inspired and motivated to just be and become one’s unique self, the person one was always meant to be. * Library Journal *Brown and Gay in LA documents the challenges of growing up gay for second-generation urban Latinos and Filipinos in this insightful blend of ethnography and memoir. Ocampo creates a collective voice out of the many people he interviewed while simultaneously honoring each experience. The result is a daring and provocative portrait of a uniquely diverse generation. * Publishers Weekly *At the heart of Brown and Gay in LA is a central interior tension people whose surroundings constantly show them the many ways in which they do not belong. A professor of sociology, Anthony Christian Ocampo weaves the stories of his interlocutors with personal narrative writing and workmanlike, scholarly prose to suggest a tenderness that comes from personal history. Rather than write strictly for academics, or write a memoir that is concerned only with the self, Ocampo splits the difference. -- Jason Frank * Vulture *A nuanced perspective on this particular kind of coming-of-age: coming out, perhaps leaving home for college, finding new families in public and private spaces. Ocampo writes lovingly of gatherings that have provided gay men of color an escape not just from the judgment of traditional families but also from the cultural dominance of white West Hollywood. -- Jireh Deng * Los Angeles Times *Ocampo analyzes with great empathy the struggles of his informants as gay children of immigrants, often with non-English-speaking families, conservative values, and Roman Catholic mores. Thoughtfully evoked and beautifully narrated. -- Vernon Rosario * The Gay & Lesbian Review *A brilliant and soulful ethnography that merges probing critical analysis, social history, and cultural inquiry, with emotional clarity and dignity. Ocampo uses his own experience as a queer Filipino person as a form of intellectual insight and wisdom, thereby demonstrating how the role of the imperial, distant scholar, in contrast, leaves so many stones unturned, and how care matters in rigorous scholarship. I highly recommend this beautifully written work. * Imani Perry, author of South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation *Anthony Christian Ocampo shows us page after page that superb research deserves the artful rendering of a dedicated artist offering up the resonances of that research to hungry, wide-eyed readers. In order to actually experience, not simply explore, and definitely not exploit, the lives of Brown and Gay men in LA, Ocampo summons the artistry of our finest writers, moving us from watcher to reader to witness to this once in a generation offering. * Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir and Long Division *Anthony Ocampo has written a book for our time. Brown and Gay in LA has got it all. This elegantly written and sociologically sophisticated book skillfully explores what it means to live at the intersection of immigration, race, and LGBTQ identity. Drawing on richly developed life histories of gay Latino and Filipino men in Los Angeles, Ocampo brings to light the untold stories of young men at the margins of multiple communities who experience the blunt force of racism and homophobia while also carving out spaces of community and belonging. Timely, relevant, and original, this could well be the most important book this year. * Roberto G. Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America *Through on-the-ground research and sensitive insights, Anthony Ocampo illuminates a generation escaping the pressures to assimilate by finding liberation among one another. Brown and Gay in LA presents a vivid, rigorous, and heartfelt examination of how community can serve as a radical bulwark against colonial legacies, religious intolerance, and racial exclusion. * Albert Samaha, author of Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City *Anthony Ocampo has crafted a gorgeous love letter to a distinctive generation of immigrant sons. In a series of tender portraits, he invites us into the heady world of Brown and Gay Los Angeles at a time of momentous change. Ocampo gracefully fuses his dual roles as storyteller and sociologist to distill the particulars and the universals of this cohort. The result is a transformative meditation on the meanings and substance of ambition in American life. * Ellen Wu, the author of The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority *Brown gay sons of immigrants have been largely invisible in nearly all their lifeworlds — often overtly or implicitly hostile to some part of their identity — as well as in the academic worlds that would do well to learn from them. Animated by his own voice and those of his many interviewees, Anthony Ocampo fills the void with a book that is richly storied, sociologically nuanced, affectingly written, effortlessly intersectional, and painfully hopeful. * Joshua Gamson, author of Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship *In this beautifully written book, Ocampo vividly tells the coming-of-age stories of over 60 young Filipino and Latino gay men in Los Angeles. Their experiences navigating the perilous landscapes shaped by racism and homophobia along with the fraught expectations of masculinity are heartbreaking. * Grace Kao, co-author of The Company We Keep: Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships from Adolescence to Adulthood *Brown and Gay in LA is at once an incisive sociological analysis of immigration from the perspectives of race, sexuality, and geography, and an emotive account of lives forged from multiple margins. Through Anthony Ocampo’s refusal to obey generic conventions, he joins his research participants in challenging dominant narratives that make legitimate movement across borders contingent on the capacity to inhabit societal norms. The result is an urgent book that not only asserts the existence of racialized queer experiences in particular times and places, but also invites reconsideration of the possibilities created through survivance of diverse itineraries of exclusion. * Jonathan Rosa, author of Looking like a Language, Sounding like a Race: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and the Learning of Latinidad *Brown and Gay in LA is a beautifully written representation that many queer people of color did not have previously. Ocampo is not only a skilled sociologist, but also an excellent storyteller. His approachable writing style, coupled with sharp sociological analyses, would benefit a wide range of audience, from undergraduate students to interested public audience alike... Ocampo tells an “I see you” story of visibility and recognition, acknowledging whole humanities of these gay sons of immigrants as well as other queer racial minorities whose identities and lives are often forcibly compartmentalized and fragmented. * Sociology of Race and Ethnicity *The book takes a very personal stance, allowing readers to relate to these individuals and their lives. The well-written preface provides helpful context, explaining the author's use of certain phrases and labels. Ocampo does a very good job of presenting qualitative research on a much-needed subject. -- A. J. Ramirez, Valdosta State University * CHOICE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe surprising and unofficial system of social control and regulation that keeps crime rates low in New York City's Washington Square Park Located in New York City's Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park is a 9.75-acre public park that is perhaps best known for its historic Washington Square Arch, a landmark at the foot of 5th Avenue. Hundreds, if not thousands, pass through the park every day, some sit on benches enjoying the sunshine, play a game of chess, watch their children play in the playground, take their dog to the dog runs, or sit by the fountain or, sometimes, buy or sell drugs. The park has an extremely low crime rate. Sociologist, and local resident, Erich Goode wants to know why. He notes that many visitors do violate park rules and ordinances, even engaging in misdemeanors like cigarette and marijuana smoking, alcohol consumption, public urination, skateboarding and bike riding. And yet, he argues, contrary to the well-known broken windows theory, which suggests thatTrade Review"Based on direct and perceptive observations, Erich gives us a complete, comparative and comprehensive view of what is going on in WSP. Very wisely, he contextualizes this view in more general perspectives of NYC, the U.S.A and relevant sociological perceptions. Consequently, readers are taken not only to a fascinating social tour of the park, but also absorb outstanding exposes of looking at WSP from different, relevant and insightful angles. This provides an absolutely engaging, pleasurable and a wonderfully positive reading and learning experience. This is a breathtaking text that people will love to read and enjoy. It is both descriptive and analytical, suggesting many insights and most of all, makes one think." -- Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Co-author of Fraud and Misconduct in Research"With knowing mind and perceptive eye, this veteran sociologist unlocks the hyper-civility of Washington Squareoften held as archetype for social richness in a public place. Goode displays how democratic values and complex accommodation can live through daily interactionin quarrels and kindness, decencies and, yes, some disrespect. It is, in ways we learn, the blemished agora of hybrid greatness." -- Harvey Molotch, Author of Against Security"Rich in detail and analysis, Eric Goode’s book portrays Washington Square Park through the eyes of an affectionate observer. His The Taming of New York’s Washington Square is an important addition to the literature on this famous public space" -- Criminal Law and Criminal Justice"Goode’s study of Washington Square is a deep dive into how this space is used and what we can learn from the interactions within… an intimate exploration of a much-loved place, grounded in traditional sociological concepts." * American Journal of Sociology *"The Taming of New York’s Washington Square offers ideas about safety and tolerance in public spaces in cities at a time when Americans are passionately debating the role of law enforcement in society. ... Washington Square Park, Erich Goode demonstrates, presents a model that prioritizes the responsibility of citizens in maintaining civility and relegates police to a secondary role." * Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Many Rooms of this House is a story about the rise and decline of religion in Toronto over the past 160 years.Trade Review‘Historians and social scientists interested in the evolution of Canadian society, cities, urban geography, religious diversity, and multiculturalism will gain much from reading this important, well-written, and meticulously researched book.’ -- David Seljack * Canadian Historical Review vol 99:01:2018 *Table of ContentsTables List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1: Consolidating Protestantism Chapter 2: An Era of Exuberance, 1880-1920 Chapter 3: Fulsome Fellowship, 1880-1920 Chapter 4: Ecclesiastical Musical Chairs, 1920-1960 Chapter 5: The Empire of Full-Orbed Christianity, 1920-1960 Chapter 6: To Every Thing Turn! Turn! Turn! There is a Season, 1960-2000 Chapter 7: Fellowship in the Time of the Shopping Centre Conclusion: Ex Uno Plures? Appendix: West End Places of Worship 1840-2000 Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisImperial Urbanism in the Borderlands is the first work to approach the history of Kyiv from an interdisciplinary perspective and showcases Kyiv's rightful place as a city worthy of attention from historians, urbanists, and literary scholars.Trade Review"Bilenky’s history of Kyiv is probing, timely, and heady." -- Steven Seegal, University of Northern Colorado * Slavic Review, vol 78 no 2 *"This detailed and thoroughly studied examination of Kyiv’s urbanism addresses an important gap in the contemporary scholarship on Ukraine’s modern history. Thanks to its methodological approach and comparative references, Kyiv’s modernism is set into a wider perspective of Europe’s urban development." -- Olena Palko, University of London * European History Quarterly *"This well-researched monograph is an excellent starting point for all further work and will be of great interest to both specialists and the general public alike." -- Fabian Baumann, University of Basel * East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies"Bilenky creates his detailed image of the city thanks to painstaking study of a multitude of published and unpublished sources. His archival research sheds light on various aspects, especially municipal administration, urban planning, the social structure, and the real estate market. The result is enjoyable reading that adds substantively to our knowledge of Kyiv and Ukrainian society in the nineteenth century." -- Johannes Remy, University of Helsinki * Harvard Ukrainian Studies Journal *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgements Maps Introduction Part I Representing the City Chapter 1 Mapping the city in transition Chapter 2 Using the past: The great cemetery of Rus' Part II Making the City Chapter 3 Municipal autonomy under the Magdeburg Law, 1800-1835 Chapter 4 Planning a new city: empire transforms space, 1835-1870 Chapter 5 Municipal autonomy reloaded: space for sale, 1871-1905 Part III Peopling the City Chapter 6 Counting Kyivites: the language of class, religion, and ethnicity Chapter 7 Municipal elites and "urban regimes": continuities and disruptions Part IV Living (in) the City Chapter 8 Sociospatial form and psychogeography Chapter 9 What language did the monuments speak? Conclusion: Towards a Theory of Imperial Urbanism in the Borderlands Notes Bibliography 560 Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Water to Wine explores how Angola has changed since the end of its civil war in 2002. Its focus is on the middle class—defined as those with a house, a car, and an education—and their consumption, aspirations, and hopes for their families. It takes as its starting point "what is working in Angola?" rather than "what is going wrong?" and makes a deliberate, political choice to give attention to beauty and happiness in everyday life in a country that has had an unusually troubled history.Each chapter focuses on one of the five senses, with the introduction and conclusion provoking reflection on proprioception (or kinesthesia) and curiosity. Various media are employed—poetry, recipes, photos, comics, and other textual experiments—to engage readers and their senses. Written for a broad audience, this text is an excellent addition to the study of Africa, the lusophone world, international development, sensory ethnography, and ethnographic Trade Review"[I]t is refreshing to get insight into actors, stories, and institutions generally ignored by most scholars, who are more interested in the state, politics, corruption, and exclusion than in seeking out new narratives and framings of Angola. The result is an absorbing account of everyday life as [Auerbach] investigates how people prosper and find meaning under difficult conditions." -- Claudia Gastrow, University of Johannesburg * H-Luso-Africa *Table of ContentsList of Images Acknowledgments Interview Report Preface Proprioception Introduction: Where Petrol Is Cheaper than Water: Life in Capitalismo selvagem The Back Story Representing “Africa”? On Making Sense in the Writing What the Book Is Actually About How the Research Was Done How to Read This Book Core Concepts Interlude: A Brief History of Angola Illustrated by Elinor Driver Smell 1. The Smell of Success: Perfume, Beauty, Sweat, Oil Read with Your Nose Conditioning the Air: Space and Control Class, Perfume, Dream: Aspiration and Authenticity Interlude: Recording Fieldwork Notes Objects Structured Observations of Space Touch 2. Touch and the Tactile: The Textures of Scouting in Capitalismo selvagem Seeing through the Skin Making the Mafia Stitching Pano Pants Catching Slipping Children Lighting the Fire as Service Building the New Man Choosing Appropriate T-Shirts Practicing Peace Interlude: Poems 1 Fatherhood Radio Building Seven Women Buying Cloth Fátima’s Mother, on Christmas Day 2013 The Cuban Help The Driver Taste 3. Changing Tastes: Palates and the Possible Recipes The Man Who Made Cake, Dona Maria, and the Sushi Chef Oral Histories: The Stories of Two Lives Interlude: Photo Essay 1: The Flavors of Peace Interlude: Photo Essay 2: Choices and Consumption Sound 4. Music, Fofoca, and the News: Sound, Space, and Orientation Sound Readings: Spectrographs, Annotation, Language Cold War Echoes: Higher Education, Ideology, and Contested Duties Interlude: Poems 2 Estrelinha (Little Star) Birds on Campus João, Collapsing Dona Maria Serving Soup Dona Inês Two Photographers Cinema Church Yoga Teacher Interlude: Photo Essay 3: Childhoods Interlude: Photo Essay 4: Leisure Sight 5. National Rebranding The Selfie and the Other National Rebranding: Guarantee Your Children a Better Past Biopolitical Screens: Frames of Vision Laughing on the Internet Insta Lies or Insta Truths? Fieldwork Ethics: Seven Afterimages Interlude: Photo Essay 5: Art Interlude: Photo Essay 6: Architecture Curiosity Conclusion: Attending the Beautiful in the Light of What We Know Capitalismo selvagem in Uncertain Times The Government Has Gone on Holiday, but Maybe João Lourenço Will Bring It Back Practicing Peace ... Again Notes Indicative Bibliography References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn recent years, schools across North America, serving vastly distinct communities, have been subject to strikingly similar waves of neoliberal policies by governments that are reshaping the nature of teachers' work.Trade Review"Though Public Education, Neoliberalism, and Teachers: New York, Mexico City, Toronto will prove most useful to those studying education in North America, it will give those interested in neoliberalism more generally much to reflect upon. Though it is not a work of history, Bocking is careful to historicize his social scientific work, and the wealth of detail he provides in all three of his case studies — much of it previously untapped by scholars — will undoubtedly enrich the work of educational, economic, and labour historians grappling with the development of the most potent and controversial ideological formation of our time." -- Josh Cole * Historical Studies in Education *"This book will benefit audiences interested in labor relations and school governance." -- C. B. Thurston, University of Texas at San Antonio * CHOICE *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Introduction 1.1 What Is Teachers’ Professional Autonomy? Why Is It Important for Public Education? 1.2 Key Dimensions for Assessing Challenges to Professional Autonomy 1.3 A Geography of Teachers’ Professional Autonomy 1.4 Challenging Professional Autonomy 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Book Overview 2. Geographies of Professional Autonomy and Neoliberalism in North America Preface: Dia Del Trabajo 2.1 The Emergence of Public Education, Teachers’ Unions, and Professionalism 2.2 The Postwar Consolidation of Public Education Systems and Teachers’ Unions 2.3 The Neoliberalization of Education: Teacher Unionism on the Defensive 2.4 Transnational Elite Policy 2.5 Counter Hegemonic Continental Networks 3. New York City Preface: Visiting a Small High School on the Upper West Side 3.1 Structural Changes I: Centralizing Power to Facilitate Neoliberal Fast Policy 3.2 Structural Changes II: Transforming Workplace Culture 3.3 Teacher Precariousness and the Weakening of the School Site Union and Professional Autonomy 3.4 Scaling Up: Initiative in Neoliberal Policy Shifts from NYC to Albany 3.5 Cuomo’s Expansion of Standardized Testing into Teacher Evaluation: Undermining Professional Autonomy 3.6 State of Our Union, State of Our Schools 4. Mexico City Preface: Teachers’ Day 4.1 Transitions in State Power, Decentralization, and Emergence of Elba Esther Gordillo’s SNTE as a Key Neoliberal Actor 4.2 Re-Centralized Governance through School-Based Competition 4.3 From Clientelism to a Neoliberalized Teaching Profession 4.4 Enrique Peña Nieto and Fast Policy 4.5 What Makes a Teacher? Marginalizing the Normals and Teacher Education 4.6 Testing Teachers 4.7 Precarious Employment and Professional Autonomy 4.8 Acquiescence, Resistance, and the Challenges of Scaling Up: The CNTE in the City and the Countryside 5. Toronto Preface: School Workroom Cultures 5.1 Centralizing Governance: Increasing Ontario Ministry of Education Control of the Toronto District School Board 5.2 Quantifying Student Achievement: Policy from the Centre 5.3 Quantifying Student Achievement: Impact on the Classroom and Professional Autonomy 5.4 Quantifying Student Achievement: Intersection of Race, Class, and School Choice on Teachers’ Work 5.5 Scaling Up: The Centralization of Bargaining and the Negotiation of Professional Autonomy 6. Conclusion Preface: Confronting the Neoliberalization of Education 6.1 The Centrality of Teachers’ Professional Autonomy in the Struggle Against the Neoliberalization of Education 6.2 Teachers’ Unions as Champions of Professional Autonomy 6.3 A Multi Scalar Geography of Teachers’ Professional Autonomy Appendix: List of Interviews Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisDavid Miller presents a compelling case that significant progress can be made at the local level by duplicating the actions of nine leading cities around the world.Trade Review"If you are feeling discouraged about how little is being done to combat climate change, David Miller’s new book is a real cheer-me-upper." -- John Sewell * TRNTO.com *"David Miller offers insights on everything from city planning to greening public transportation and dealing with waste products. Though Solved focuses on cities, it can certainly inspire citizens to start their own climate initiatives in smaller communities." -- Green Teacher"Solved is a laudable attempt to show the power of local government and the pivotal role cities can play in protecting the environment. The power of place is rightly emphasized as a key tool in the fight for environmental preservation." -- Andrew Barnfield, University of Bristol * Eurasian Geography and Economics *"An easy read, this book will encourage more cities to create implementable emission reduction plans, and all who are city residents to participate. Highly recommended." -- L.B. Allsopp, Arizona State University * CHOICE *"Across seven brisk chapters, Miller takes the reader on a Contiki tour of cities around the world and the incredible things that they are doing on the ground while their national governments dither and their national leaders pose earnestly with Greta Thunberg (or troll her)." -- Donald Wright, University of New Brunswick * Literary Review of Canada *"Miller’s book is a very positive perspective on the role of cities reacting to climate changes and reducing carbon emissions." -- Richard Smardon, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry * Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences *Table of ContentsForeword Preface 1. Plans 2. Energy and Electricity 3. Existing Buildings 4. New Buildings 5. Public Transportation 6. Personal and Other Transportation 7. Waste Epilogue Afterword

Read more less

Book SynopsisStreetlife reflects on the purpose, value, and meaning of our long valued but often taken for granted urban storefronts.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Urban Retail Predicament Conrad Kickert and Emily Talen Retail Trends and Transformations The Life and Death of Retail: Insights from Firm Demography Luc Anselin and Irene Farah The Ups and Downs of Retail, 2000–2015 Kevin Credit, Irene Farah, and Luc Anselin Commercial Gentrification: What Happens to Businesses and Services when the Neighborhood Changes? Rachel Meltzer The Case of E-Commerce Bricks and Clicks Liz Mack The Changing Demand for Urban Retail Space: Evidence from Canada Christopher Daniel and Tony Hernandez Online Sales and the British Urban Retail Hierarchy Colin Jones The Survival of Mom-and-Pops Small Business Survival: How and Why? Vikas Mehta Can Mom and Pop Stores Survive? A Survey of Small Retailers in Chicago Emily Talen What’s in a Chain?: On Hipness, Corporate Stores, and False Dichotomies in Urban Life Jeffrey Nathaniel Parker Retail, Place, and Place-Making Retail Scenes Hyesun Jeong and Terry Clark Main Street Morphology, Adaptability, and Resilience Rosa Danenberg Retail in the Mix Matthew Carmona Toward Solutions Curating Main Streets: The Factors of Success Michael W. Mehaffy and Tigran Haas The Spatial Logic of Urban Retail Conrad Kickert The Future of American Urban Retail Real Estate Heather Arnold Conclusion: Urban Retail Redefined Conrad Kickert and Emily Talen

Read more less

Book SynopsisReading modern architecture and urbanism in socialist and capitalist cities, this work challenges the twentieth-century divide between East and West in favour of a shared and contested history that plays out on the peripheries of the world's cities.Trade Review"The thorough bibliography comprises 279 references of both original sources and secondary literature, and along with the notes displays the breadth of intellectual reach at the foundation of the book, which together with excellent illustrations forms a functional, coherent, and inspiring book." -- Dragana Ćorović, University of Belgrade * Slavic Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface 1. Introduction: Crossing Divides 2. Looking for the Antithesis of the Suburb 3. Socialist Space 4. South City as a Work of Art in the Age of Mass-Produced Dwellings 5. Redesigning the Post-war Suburban Landscape 6. The “Total Image”: The Making of Willowdale Modern Conclusion: Unearthing the Suburban Core Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocusing on government-organized relocations of street vendors in Indonesia, Shadow Play carefully exposes the reasons why conflicts over urban planning are fought through information politics. Anthropologist Sheri Lynn Gibbings shows that information politics are the principal avenues through which the municipal government of Yogyakarta city seeks to implement its urban projects. Information politics are also the primary means through which street vendors, activists, and NGOs can challenge these plans. Through extensive interviews and lengthy participant observation in Yogyakarta, Gibbings shows that both state and non-state actors engage in transparency, rumours, conspiracies, and surveillance practices. Gibbings reveals that these entangled information practices create suspicion and fear, form new solidarities, and dissolve relationships. Shadow Play is a compelling study explaining how we cannot understand urban projects in post-Suharto Indonesia and Table of ContentsFigures Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The Politics of Containment 3. Dialogue, Documents, and Distrust 4. Democratizing Surveillance 5. Press Releases and Silent Critiques 6. The Talk of Violence 7. Coinspiratorial Knowledge, Allah, and State Power 8. Agents and Brothers 9. Marketplace Relations 10. Conclusion List of Protagonists Glossary of Indonesian Terms and Abbreviations Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book interrogates and questions the meaning and implications of suburban creativity.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Preface Contributors Part I: Openings 1. Rethinking Creative and Cultural Practices from the Outside in – An Interdisciplinary Exploration Ilja Van Damme, Ruth McManus, and Michiel Dehaene 2. The Uncool Hunt: Searching for the Creative Suburb David Gilbert Part II: The Suburban Home as Locus of Creativity 3. “Pictures, Plants, and Ornaments”: Jane Ellen Panton and Creative Practice in the British Victorian Suburbs Sarah Bilston 4. Battlegrounds of Taste and Distinction: Art and Antique Collectors in the Suburban Hinterland of Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Belgium Ulrike Müller and Ilja Van Damme 5. The Art of Living in the Australian Suburb: Creative and Cultural Production at Home in Suburban Melbourne, 1910s–1960s Susan Reidy 6. Ideal Homes and Haunted Houses: Twenty-First-Century Irish Suburban Art and Writing Simon Workman Part III: The Suburban Creative Milieu 7. Halfway between Nature and Culture: Uccle Centre d’Art, a Colony of Artists in Brussels’s Suburbs in the Interwar Period Tatiana Debroux 8. Exploring Creativity in Dublin’s Suburbs, 1900–2000: Insider, Outsider, Bourgeois, or Bohemian? Ruth McManus 9. Recreating Locality: Community and Identity in Budapest Suburbs, 1995–2020 János B. Kocsis 10. Creativity in Contemporary Housing Estate Neighbourhoods: The Case of Kontula, Helsinki Johanna Lilius 11. The Fung Bros Rep the Ethnoburb Margaret Crawford 12. Grounding Suburban LGBTQ+ Vernacular Creativities in the Toronto City-Region Alison L. Bain Part IV: Creating Suburbia 13. From Artistry to Agency? Transactional Architecture for the Creative Fashioning of the Antwerp Suburbs in the Early Twentieth Century Tom Broes and Michiel Dehaene 14. Creating Suburbs in North America: A Mutual Blind Spot Richard Harris

Read more less

Book SynopsisDrawing from a cross-national perspective and a range of comparative vantage points, Poverty and Austerity amid Prosperity provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of poverty.Table of ContentsPreface 1.Poverty Matters: Introduction 2. Understanding Poverty: Conceptualizing, Defining, and Measuring Poverty 3. Poverty in Three Anglo Nations: The Dimensions, Character, and Impact of Poverty 4. Poverty and the Welfare State: Comparative Contrasts 5. Individual-Centred Explanations for Poverty: Biogenetic and Behavioural Accounts 6. Society-Centred Explanations for Poverty: Systemic and Socio-Political Accounts 7. What Can Be Done? References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Many Rooms of this House is a story about the rise and decline of religion in Toronto over the past 160 years.Trade Review‘Historians and social scientists interested in the evolution of Canadian society, cities, urban geography, religious diversity, and multiculturalism will gain much from reading this important, well-written, and meticulously researched book.’ -- David Seljack * Canadian Historical Review vol 99:01:2018 *Table of ContentsTables List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1: Consolidating Protestantism Chapter 2: An Era of Exuberance, 1880-1920 Chapter 3: Fulsome Fellowship, 1880-1920 Chapter 4: Ecclesiastical Musical Chairs, 1920-1960 Chapter 5: The Empire of Full-Orbed Christianity, 1920-1960 Chapter 6: To Every Thing Turn! Turn! Turn! There is a Season, 1960-2000 Chapter 7: Fellowship in the Time of the Shopping Centre Conclusion: Ex Uno Plures? Appendix: West End Places of Worship 1840-2000 Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Water to Wine explores how Angola has changed since the end of its civil war in 2002. Its focus is on the middle class—defined as those with a house, a car, and an education—and their consumption, aspirations, and hopes for their families. It takes as its starting point "what is working in Angola?" rather than "what is going wrong?" and makes a deliberate, political choice to give attention to beauty and happiness in everyday life in a country that has had an unusually troubled history.Each chapter focuses on one of the five senses, with the introduction and conclusion provoking reflection on proprioception (or kinesthesia) and curiosity. Various media are employed—poetry, recipes, photos, comics, and other textual experiments—to engage readers and their senses. Written for a broad audience, this text is an excellent addition to the study of Africa, the lusophone world, international development, sensory ethnography, and ethnographic Trade Review"[I]t is refreshing to get insight into actors, stories, and institutions generally ignored by most scholars, who are more interested in the state, politics, corruption, and exclusion than in seeking out new narratives and framings of Angola. The result is an absorbing account of everyday life as [Auerbach] investigates how people prosper and find meaning under difficult conditions." -- Claudia Gastrow, University of Johannesburg * H-Luso-Africa *Table of ContentsList of Images Acknowledgments Interview Report Preface Proprioception Introduction: Where Petrol Is Cheaper than Water: Life in Capitalismo selvagem The Back Story Representing “Africa”? On Making Sense in the Writing What the Book Is Actually About How the Research Was Done How to Read This Book Core Concepts Interlude: A Brief History of Angola Illustrated by Elinor Driver Smell 1. The Smell of Success: Perfume, Beauty, Sweat, Oil Read with Your Nose Conditioning the Air: Space and Control Class, Perfume, Dream: Aspiration and Authenticity Interlude: Recording Fieldwork Notes Objects Structured Observations of Space Touch 2. Touch and the Tactile: The Textures of Scouting in Capitalismo selvagem Seeing through the Skin Making the Mafia Stitching Pano Pants Catching Slipping Children Lighting the Fire as Service Building the New Man Choosing Appropriate T-Shirts Practicing Peace Interlude: Poems 1 Fatherhood Radio Building Seven Women Buying Cloth Fátima’s Mother, on Christmas Day 2013 The Cuban Help The Driver Taste 3. Changing Tastes: Palates and the Possible Recipes The Man Who Made Cake, Dona Maria, and the Sushi Chef Oral Histories: The Stories of Two Lives Interlude: Photo Essay 1: The Flavors of Peace Interlude: Photo Essay 2: Choices and Consumption Sound 4. Music, Fofoca, and the News: Sound, Space, and Orientation Sound Readings: Spectrographs, Annotation, Language Cold War Echoes: Higher Education, Ideology, and Contested Duties Interlude: Poems 2 Estrelinha (Little Star) Birds on Campus João, Collapsing Dona Maria Serving Soup Dona Inês Two Photographers Cinema Church Yoga Teacher Interlude: Photo Essay 3: Childhoods Interlude: Photo Essay 4: Leisure Sight 5. National Rebranding The Selfie and the Other National Rebranding: Guarantee Your Children a Better Past Biopolitical Screens: Frames of Vision Laughing on the Internet Insta Lies or Insta Truths? Fieldwork Ethics: Seven Afterimages Interlude: Photo Essay 5: Art Interlude: Photo Essay 6: Architecture Curiosity Conclusion: Attending the Beautiful in the Light of What We Know Capitalismo selvagem in Uncertain Times The Government Has Gone on Holiday, but Maybe João Lourenço Will Bring It Back Practicing Peace ... Again Notes Indicative Bibliography References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the 1960s, socialist and capitalist urban planners, architects, and city officials chose the urban periphery as the site to test out new ideas in modernist architecture and planning: the outskirts of Prague and a bedroom suburb of Toronto would be the sites for experimental urban development. In the Suburbs of History overcomes the divisions between East and West to reassemble the shared histories of modern architecture and urbanism as it shaped and re-shaped the periphery. Drawing on archives, interviews, architectural journals, and site visits to the peripheries of Prague and Toronto, Steven Logan reveals the intertwined histories of capitalist and socialist urban planning. From socialist utopias to the capitalist visions of the edge city, the history of the suburbs is not simply a history of competing urban forms; rather, it is a history of alternatives that advocated collective solutions over the dominant model of single-family home ownership and car-domiTrade Review"The thorough bibliography comprises 279 references of both original sources and secondary literature, and along with the notes displays the breadth of intellectual reach at the foundation of the book, which together with excellent illustrations forms a functional, coherent, and inspiring book." -- Dragana Ćorović, University of Belgrade * Slavic Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface 1. Introduction: Crossing Divides 2. Looking for the Antithesis of the Suburb 3. Socialist Space 4. South City as a Work of Art in the Age of Mass-Produced Dwellings 5. Redesigning the Post-war Suburban Landscape 6. The “Total Image”: The Making of Willowdale Modern Conclusion: Unearthing the Suburban Core Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocusing on government-organized relocations of street vendors in Indonesia, Shadow Play carefully exposes the reasons why conflicts over urban planning are fought through information politics. Anthropologist Sheri Lynn Gibbings shows that information politics are the principal avenues through which the municipal government of Yogyakarta city seeks to implement its urban projects. Information politics are also the primary means through which street vendors, activists, and NGOs can challenge these plans. Through extensive interviews and lengthy participant observation in Yogyakarta, Gibbings shows that both state and non-state actors engage in transparency, rumours, conspiracies, and surveillance practices. Gibbings reveals that these entangled information practices create suspicion and fear, form new solidarities, and dissolve relationships. Shadow Play is a compelling study explaining how we cannot understand urban projects in post-Suharto Indonesia and Table of ContentsFigures Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The Politics of Containment 3. Dialogue, Documents, and Distrust 4. Democratizing Surveillance 5. Press Releases and Silent Critiques 6. The Talk of Violence 7. Coinspiratorial Knowledge, Allah, and State Power 8. Agents and Brothers 9. Marketplace Relations 10. Conclusion List of Protagonists Glossary of Indonesian Terms and Abbreviations Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book interrogates and questions the meaning and implications of suburban creativity.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Preface Contributors Part I: Openings 1. Rethinking Creative and Cultural Practices from the Outside in – An Interdisciplinary Exploration Ilja Van Damme, Ruth McManus, and Michiel Dehaene 2. The Uncool Hunt: Searching for the Creative Suburb David Gilbert Part II: The Suburban Home as Locus of Creativity 3. “Pictures, Plants, and Ornaments”: Jane Ellen Panton and Creative Practice in the British Victorian Suburbs Sarah Bilston 4. Battlegrounds of Taste and Distinction: Art and Antique Collectors in the Suburban Hinterland of Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Belgium Ulrike Müller and Ilja Van Damme 5. The Art of Living in the Australian Suburb: Creative and Cultural Production at Home in Suburban Melbourne, 1910s–1960s Susan Reidy 6. Ideal Homes and Haunted Houses: Twenty-First-Century Irish Suburban Art and Writing Simon Workman Part III: The Suburban Creative Milieu 7. Halfway between Nature and Culture: Uccle Centre d’Art, a Colony of Artists in Brussels’s Suburbs in the Interwar Period Tatiana Debroux 8. Exploring Creativity in Dublin’s Suburbs, 1900–2000: Insider, Outsider, Bourgeois, or Bohemian? Ruth McManus 9. Recreating Locality: Community and Identity in Budapest Suburbs, 1995–2020 János B. Kocsis 10. Creativity in Contemporary Housing Estate Neighbourhoods: The Case of Kontula, Helsinki Johanna Lilius 11. The Fung Bros Rep the Ethnoburb Margaret Crawford 12. Grounding Suburban LGBTQ+ Vernacular Creativities in the Toronto City-Region Alison L. Bain Part IV: Creating Suburbia 13. From Artistry to Agency? Transactional Architecture for the Creative Fashioning of the Antwerp Suburbs in the Early Twentieth Century Tom Broes and Michiel Dehaene 14. Creating Suburbs in North America: A Mutual Blind Spot Richard Harris

Read more less

Book SynopsisLocal elections are an increasingly popular area of research among scholars of Canadian political behaviour, offering invaluable insights into the attitudes and motivations of Canadian electors. The Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES) has collected unparalleled individual-level survey data in eight major Canadian municipal elections: Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Mississauga, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. These elections, which took place in 2017 and 2018, were high-profile, contentious, and often surprising, featuring mayoral defeats, record-breaking turnouts, provincial-municipal tensions, and the first ranked-ballot election in Canada in decades. Combining unprecedented individual-level survey data from the CMES with local expertise from political scientists across Canada, Big City Elections in Canada provides a data-driven overview of each election, while also highlighting the more general lessons the elections teach us about municipal politics and votiTable of Contents1. Local Elections in Canada Jack Lucas and R. Michael McGregor 2. Calgary: October 16, 2017 Jack Lucas and John Santos 3. Montreal: November 5, 2017 Éric Bélanger and Jean-François Daoust 4. Quebec City: November 5, 2017 Jérôme Couture and Sandra Breux 5. Vancouver: October 20, 2018 Eline A. de Rooij, J. Scott Matthews, and Mark Pickup 6. London: October 22, 2018 Cameron D. Anderson and Laura B. Stephenson 7. Mississauga: October 22, 2018 Erin Tolley and Erica Rayment 8. Toronto: October 22, 2018 R. Michael McGregor and Scott Pruysers 9. Winnipeg: October 24, 2018 Aaron Moore 10. Conclusion Jack Lucas and R. Michael McGregor Appendices

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection offers an in-depth look at municipal voting behaviour during local elections in eight of Canada's largest cities.Table of Contents1. Local Elections in Canada Jack Lucas and R. Michael McGregor 2. Calgary: October 16, 2017 Jack Lucas and John Santos 3. Montreal: November 5, 2017 Éric Bélanger and Jean-François Daoust 4. Quebec City: November 5, 2017 Jérôme Couture and Sandra Breux 5. Vancouver: October 20, 2018 Eline A. de Rooij, J. Scott Matthews, and Mark Pickup 6. London: October 22, 2018 Cameron D. Anderson and Laura B. Stephenson 7. Mississauga: October 22, 2018 Erin Tolley and Erica Rayment 8. Toronto: October 22, 2018 R. Michael McGregor and Scott Pruysers 9. Winnipeg: October 24, 2018 Aaron Moore 10. Conclusion Jack Lucas and R. Michael McGregor Appendices

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book presents a visually rich narrative of how coexistence is negotiated in Los Angeles, a city vibrant with sociocultural diversity.Trade Review“[Chan’s] findings and insights are of use to anyone interested in urbanization, urban planning, community life, race and ethnicity, or Los Angeles specifically.” -- Ronald J. Angel, University of Texas Austin * Ethnic and Racial Studies *Table of Contents1. Introduction: The Promise and Peril of Los Angeles “Diversity Explosion”: Race, Ethnicity, Nationality, Class, and Income Cities of Diversity: Nested Social Complex Studying Diversity as a Socio-Spatial Phenomenon More Quality Contact, Not Less The Trouble with Diversity 2. Comparing Spaces of Globalization and Diversity Neighbourhood and Community in Tension Approaching the Three Locales Cognitive Mapping of Diversity Reflections on Fieldwork 3. Scenes of Diversity in Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality Scene One: In San Marino Socio-Spatial Differentiation: Wealth and Ethnicity Divergent Routines Scene Two: In Central Long Beach Ethnicity as an Organizing Principle in Social Space “Canalized” Practices in Shared Space Scene Three: In Mid-Wilshire Contested Space and Cultural Enclaves Relational Web in Density and Diversity Concluding Thoughts: Multivalent Diversities in Los Angeles 4. Tensions in Diversity Competing Values in San Marino Ethnic Turfs in Central Long Beach Profiling in Polarities: Mid-Wilshire Concluding Thoughts about Tensions of Diversity 5. Boundaries and Local Belongings Elective Boundaries Circumscribed Boundaries Polarized Boundaries Fostering Local Belongings (S)elective Belonging Concluding Thoughts: Crossing Boundaries 6. Intercultural Contours of a Diverse Public Realm Configurations of Relational Web Interculturalism in Los Angeles Barriers to Intercultural Learning and Understanding in Los Angeles Lacking Community Space? Intercultural Opportunities in the Public Realm Neighbourhood Parks Public Libraries Public Events and Festivals Concluding Thoughts: Public Realm of Diversity 7. Designing for Collective Intercultural Life Evaluating the Urban Form of Diverse Public Environments Interculturalism in Urban Planning and Design Practice? Co-producing a Convivial Collective Life: Qualities of Intercultural Places Concluding Thoughts: Design for Public Life 8. Conclusions: Conflict and Conviviality in Diversity Diverse Public Realm and Its Promises Implications beyond Los Angeles Appendices Notes References

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explores the myriad ways in which northern urban places foster new forms of community-building and social inclusion for people experiencing homelessness.Table of ContentsIntroduction Section One: The Canadian North Regional Introduction: The Canadian North Julia Christensen 1: It’s a Tough Game: Navigating Housing Monopolies in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada Lisa Freeman and Julia Christensen 2: Responding to Homelessness in Yellowknife: Pushing the Ocean Back with a Spoon Nick Falvo 3: An “Urban” Issue, and the Issue with “Urban”: Contextualizing Homelessness in Whitehorse Alexandra Nelson 4: Homelessness, Mobility, and Migration from the James Bay Carol Kauppi, Michael Hankard, and Henri Pallard 5: A Different Kind of “Ecological Refugee”: Land Claims, Migration, and Inequalities in Northern Labrador Joshua Moses 6: Making Place Home: The Contradictions of Inuit Housing in a Liberal Democracy Frank Tester Section Two: Alaska Regional Introduction: Alaska Sally Carraher and Travis Hedwig 7: Northern Voices on Homelessness: Engaging the Public and Promoting Inclusivity for Homeless Alaskans in Public Discourse Sally Carraher and Travis Hedwig 8: Differing Meanings of Housing First: Lessons Learned from a Single-Site Program Evaluation in Anchorage, Alaska Travis Hedwig 9: Alaska Is a Very Small Town: Moving Towards an Understanding of Homelessness in the Urban North Clare Dannenberg Section Three: Greenland Regional Introduction: Greenland Steven Arnfjord and Julia Christensen 10: In Search of Security: Women’s Homelessness in Nuuk, Greenland Steven Arnfjord and Julia Christensen 11: Welfare Colonialism and Geographies of Homelessness in Nuuk, Greenland Julia Christensen, Steven Arnfjord, and Marie-Louise Aastrup Conclusion Epilogue: Homelessness across the Arctic in the Shadow of COVID-19

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe decision to undertake a study of some aspect of the development of social welfare in Ontario was made as a result of separate but related discussions in the early 1950's with the late Dr. Harry M. Cassidy, Professor Frank H. Underhill, and Professor John S. Morgan, from each of whom I received helpful advice. The topic first considered was child welfare, but some exploration revealed that programmes for the protection of children emerged rather late in the total structure of welfare services in the province and could hardly be assessed until earlier developments in the broader field had been examined. It was thus decided to carry out a study of the whole field of social welfare, with particular reference to the ro1e played by the provincial government.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe influence of educational associations is often overlooked in treatises on Ontario's educational system because these groups tend to operate in an informal manner. This volume discusses the various types of educational organizations, their purposes, the scope and nature of their activities, and their contributions to education. It includes professional organizations, and a wide variety of groups with a direct or peripheral interest in education in its broad definition.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFinalist for 2024 Oklahoma Book Award Oklahoma is bound to both the South and the Southwest and their legacies of conquest and Indigenous survivance. At the same time, mobility, ingenuity, cultural exchange, and creative expression—all part of the experience of urbanization—have been fundamental to people of the tribes that call this place home. Tulsa, New Orleans, and Santa Fe, with their importance in histories of geopolitical upheaval and mobility that shaped the establishment of the United States, are key to uncovering the history of urbanization experienced by Native Americans from Oklahoma.Urban Homelands, while examining the overlooked histories of Oklahoma Indigenous urbanization relative to these regions, engages literature and film as not just mirrors of experience but as producers of it. Lindsey Claire Smith brings the work of three-time poet laureate Joy Harjo into conversation with the great Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs and breaTrade Review“In addition to a compelling grasp of urban studies scholarship, Lindsey Claire Smith shows great expertise in swiftly connecting the threads of Indigenous history in three cities—New Orleans, Tulsa, and Santa Fe—through comprehensive historical documentation. This study is rigorous, yet accessible to a wide audience. Urban Homelands makes a timely contribution to contemporary Native and Indigenous studies and urban studies. A must-read.”—Cristina Stanciu, author of The Makings and Unmakings of Americans: Indians and Immigrants in American Literature and Culture, 1879–1924Table of ContentsList of Photographs Acknowledgments Introduction: Writing the Native City from Oklahoma 1. Beyond Monuments: Tracing Indigenous Histories in New Orleans, Tulsa, and Santa Fe 2. Where It All Started: Native American Literatures and the City of New Orleans 3. Finding Tallasi: Native Tulsa in Literature and Film 4. “The City Different”: Writing Oklahoma in Santa Fe Afterword Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents novel ways of understanding how cycling and driving animate urban space, place, and society and investigates how cycling can learn from the ways in which driving has become invested with moral value.Trade Review“Weaving together insights from transport and mobilities research, urban planning, and ethnographic encounters gleaned on ride-alongs with cyclists in Canada and around the globe, Nick Scott takes us along on an enlightening journey in search of a good bike lane into the future.”—Phillip Vannini, author of Off the Grid: Re-Assembling Domestic Life“This book tackles the very important and timely topic of how, why, where, and for whom more sustainable bicycling practices and infrastructure are taking off, or are being blocked, in various U.S. and Canadian cities. . . . Nick Scott asks far ranging questions about good cities, the good life, and the common good. Drawing on creative ethnographic vignettes, these lively stories highlight the pressing need for more focus on equity, social justice, and expansion of biking infrastructures to diverse populations. Scott also contributes important theoretical concepts of moral assemblage, moral friction, and moral mobilities to the growing body of work on mobility justice.”—Mimi Sheller, author of Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of ExtremesTable of ContentsList of Photographs Acknowledgments Introduction: In Search of the Good Bike Lane 1. Domestic Mobilities: Local Tradition, Urban Place, and Good Roads 2. Industrial Mobilities: Road Engineering, Urban Planning, and Infrastructuring Efficiency 3. Civic Mobilities: Dedicated Bike Lanes, Cycling Social Movements, and Cycling Justice 4. Market Mobilities: Neoliberal Urbanism, Bike Share, and the Commodification of Cycling 5. Ecological Mobilities: Enacting Nature through Cycling Conclusion: Good Cycling Futures Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe number of bicyclists isincreasing in the United States, especially among the working class and people of color. In contrast to the demographics of bicyclists in the United States, advocacy for bicycling has focused mainly on the interests of whiteupwardly mobile bicyclists, leading to neighborhood conflicts and accusations of racist planning. In Bike Lanes Are White Lanes, scholar Melody L. Hoffmann argues that the bicycle has varied cultural meaning as a rolling signifier. That is, the bicycle's meaning changes in different spaces, with different people, and in different cultures. The rolling signification of the bicycle contributes to building community, influences gentrifying urban planning, and upholds systemic race and class barriers. In this study of three prominent U.S. citiesMilwaukee, Portland, and MinneapolisHoffmann examines how the burgeoning popularity of urban bicycling is trailed by systemic issues of racism, classism, and displacement. From a pro-cycling perspTrade Review"Environmental historians interested in urban issues will profit from Hoffmann's look at social justice issues associated with "green" development. For urban planning students, as well as anyone involved in city planning, this book could be considered required reading. Bicycle advocates will find the work provocative and a stimulus toward more inclusive efforts in creating better transportation options for all city residents. Hoffmann has written an important and significant contribution to scholarship and to public discussions about bicycles, urban living, and development."—James A. Pritchard, Environmental History"Powerfully relevant."—Cat Ariail, Sport in American History“For anyone interested in the urban role of cycling, this is an important book. Informed by an overdue concern with race, class, and gender, it critically redresses imbalances in our current understandings of cycling. [Hoffmann] usefully punctures a general liberal, middle-class complacency over the implicitly assumed superiority of the bicycle. . . . Indispensable reading if our goal is to broaden cycling’s appeal and to make inclusive and just cities, as well as genuinely ecologically sustainable ones.”—Dave Horton, author of Promoting Walking and Cycling: New Perspectives on Sustainable Travel“Important to many fields: transportation, race, city planning, housing and migration, sustainability, community organizing, planning and policy processes, and equity. . . . In the emerging scholarship concerning ‘bike equity,’ Melody Hoffmann is an early and influential entrant.”—Julian Agyeman, author of Incomplete Streets: Processes, Practices and PossibilitiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. One Less Car, One More Critique: U.S. Urban Bicycle Culture and Advocacy2. More Races, Less Racing: The Role of a Bicycle Race in Community Building3. Bike Lanes Are White Lanes: Gentrification and Historical Racism in Portland's Bicycle Infrastructure Planning4. Recruiting People Like You: Class-Based Recruitment and Bicycle Advocacy in Minneapolis5. The Beginning of the Equity Era: Possibilities and Solutions NotesBibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn A Connected Metropolis Maxwell Johnson describes Los Angeles’s rise in the early twentieth century as catalyzed by a series of upper-class debates about the city’s connections to the outside world. By focusing on specific moments in the city’s development when tensions over Los Angeles’s connections, or lack thereof, emerged, Johnson ties each movement to two or three contemporary figures who influenced the debates at hand. The elites’ previous efforts to secure nationwide and global connections for Los Angeles were wildly successful following World War II. As a result, the city became a landing spot for African American migrants, Cambodian and Laotian refugees, and Mexican and Central American immigrants. Johnson argues that the city’s history is more defined by external relationships than previously understood, and those relationships have given the history of the city more continuity than originally recognized. At the turn ofTrade Review“Pithy and insightful, Maxwell Johnson’s A Connected Metropolis offers a captivating—and often surprising—exploration of how urban elites transformed the remote frontier town of Los Angeles into a global metropolis in the span of a century.”—Edward D. Melillo, author of Strangers on Familiar Soil: Rediscovering the Chile-California Connection“Maxwell Johnson’s skill as a researcher shines throughout A Connected Metropolis. Although primarily directed at historians of Los Angeles and California, urban historians will find much value in his analysis of elite urban actors and will be able to use this as a model for studying elite politics in other American cities.”—Jessica M. Kim, author of Imperial Metropolis: Los Angeles, Mexico, and the Borderlands of American Empire, 1865–1941

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a book of encounters. Part memoir, part essay, and partly a guide to maximizing your capacity for fulfillment and expression, The Poetry of Everyday Life taps into the artistic side of what we often take for granted: the stories we tell, the people we love, the metaphors used by scientists, even our sex lives. A folklorist, writer, and cultural activist, Steve Zeitlin explores how poems serve us in daily life and how they are used in times of personal and national crisis. In the first book to bring together the perspectives of folklore and creative writing, Zeitlin explores meaning and experience, covering topics ranging from poetry in the life cycle to the contemporary uses of ancient myths. This convergence of poetry and folklore, he suggests, gives birth to something new: a new way of seeing ourselves, and a new way of being in the world. Written with humor and insight, the book introduces readers to the many eccentric and visionary characters Zeitlin has meTrade ReviewFor the folklorist, the book is of considerable interest because it shows us how one prominent public-sector folklorist approaches his material in a manner that is somewhat distinctive. * Journal of American Folklore *The Poetry of Everyday Life reads like a conversation Zeitlin has had with the many people he has met in fieldwork, with his friends, family, ping-pong partners, and scholars who inform his thinking. Likewise, we find ourselves in conversation with poets, scholars, community members, his family, and others, all of whom are equal participants. The book prompts me to question my own language in writing this review when really, how do I review a book that made me think differently, that brought me to tears, and that changed how I teach? I could offer a poem, but I'll end with a pitch: buy this book. * Journal of Folklore Research *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Saving Our Cities, William W. Goldsmith shows how cities can be places of opportunity rather than places with problems. With strongly revived cities and suburbs, working as places that serve all their residents, metropolitan areas will thrive, thus making the national economy more productive, the environment better protected, the citizenry better educated, and the society more reflective, sensitive, and humane. Goldsmith argues that America has been in the habit of abusing its cities and their poorest suburbs, which are always the first to be blamed for society's ills and the last to be helped. As federal and state budgets, regulations, and programs line up with the interests of giant corporations and privileged citizens, they impose austerity on cities, shortchange public schools, make it hard to get nutritious food, and inflict the drug war on unlucky neighborhoods. Frustration with inequality is spreading. Parents and teachers call persistently for improvemTrade Review"Saving Our Cities provides a compelling argument that the most important 'urban' policies we can pursue are those that are not actually regarded as `urban’ at all. William W. Goldsmith convincingly shows that to improve our cities we need `upstream’ policies that address social problems that have a disproportionately negative impact on urban areas. This is an important book that should improve the way we think about urban policy." -- Edward G. Goetz, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota, author of New Deal Ruins: Race, Economic Justice, and Public Housing Policy"William W. Goldsmith lays out a novel path for urban reform. Critiquing policies beyond the usual suspects, he shows how federal and state decisions have harmed city residents by promoting austerity, unequal schools, bad food, and the drug war. Saving Our Cities offers a forceful and optimistic road map for progressive change." -- Margaret Weir, Avice M. Saint Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Sociology and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, author of Politics and Jobs"Saving Our Cities is a fresh and welcome contribution to our study of cities, planning, and change. It reminds us that, with enlightened state and federal action, we can reduce inequality and meet the needs of most city residents for improved housing, better transportation, and enhanced public spaces." -- Norman Krumholz, Cleveland State University, past president of the American Planning Association, coauthor of Making Equity Planning Work

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Native to the Republic, Minayo Nasiali traces the process through which expectations about living standards and decent housing came to be understood as social rights in late twentieth-century France. These ideas evolved through everyday negotiations between ordinary people, municipal authorities, central state bureaucrats, elected officials, and social scientists in postwar Marseille. Nasiali shows how these local-level interactions fundamentally informed evolving ideas about French citizenship and the built environment, namely that the institutionalization of social citizenship also created new spaces for exclusion. Although everyone deserved social rights, some were supposedly more deserving than others.From the 1940s through the early 1990s, metropolitan discussions about the potential for town planning to transform everyday life were shaped by colonial and, later, postcolonial migration within the changing empire. As a port and the historical gateway to and fromTrade ReviewThis detailed review of citizenship and housing in postwar Marseille amplifies understanding of French urban life through reconstruction and analysis of local dynamics in the neighborhoods (and public housing projects) of this dynamic, variegated city over time.... Carefully engaging literatures on the state and society in France, the author offers new vantages more than new patterns or interpretations. Nonetheless, the book should be welcomed for both its local, human focus and its accessible study of politics and urban transformations in the second city of France, which speaks to many contemporary issues in France and beyond. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. -- G. W. McDonogh, Bryn Mawr College * CHOICE *In this groundbreaking book, Nasiali argues that ideas about membership in the nation and about quality of life in late twentieth-century France were forged at the local level...What is pioneering in Nasiali's approach is her engagement with housing projects at the local level in Marseille. Rather than observation from the heights of French central state authority, she digs down into the nitty-gritty of local negotiations between ordinary people and government authorities. * Journal of Modern History *Native to the Republic is a solid addition to postcolonial studies on France and the French welfare state. * American Historical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisLabor unions remain the largest membership-based organizations in major North American cities, even after years of decline. Labor continues to play a vital role in mobilizing urban residents, shaping urban conflict, and crafting the policies and regulations that are transforming our urban spaces. As unions become more involved in the daily life of the city, they find themselves confronting the familiar dilemma of how to fold union priorities into broader campaigns that address nonunion workers and the lives of union members beyond the workplace. If we are right to believe that the future of the labor movement is an urban one, union activists and staffers, urban policymakers, elected officials, and members of the public alike will require a fuller understanding of what impels unions to become involved in urban policy issues, what dilemmas structure the choices unions make, and what impact unions have on the lives of urban residents, beyond their members.Unions and the City serTrade ReviewConcise analysis of the approach developed by those of us deeply involved in the struggle to improve working and living conditions in Canada's largest urban centre.... A clear analysis of unions and the dialectics of renewal. * Our Times: Canada's Independent Labour Magazine *The essays in this uniformly strong collection present a highly nuanced account of successes and setbacks of union campaigns to shape the direction of two changing cities: New York and Toronto.... Readers will learn much from this book about union engagement with urban space, policy and politics. * Labour *Unions and the City is successful in showing that union demands are not merely workplace concerns... It is hoped that MacDonald's book will encourage future scholarship on the efficacy of unions in this broader urban terrain. * Journal of Urban Affairs *Unions and the City is a well-written and well-edited account of labor challenges in an urban context. It fills a significant gap in the union renewal literature by raising important questions about how unions must transcend their traditional roles and address societal ten- sions around class, gender, and race. * ILR Review *This volume provides a timely and infor- mative exploration of the role of unions in urban politics and fills a gap in the litera- ture. MacDonald has done an excellent job of introducing the reader to the importance of unions as urban actors and the dynamics of urban politics. * Industrial Relations *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The Urbanization of Union Strategy and Struggle, Ian MacDonaldPart 1. LABOR AND THE HOSPITABLE CITY,Ian MacDonald1. Labor Strategy and the Politics of Elite Division in Midtown Manhattan, Ian MacDonald 2. Organized Labor and Casino Politics in Toronto, Steven TuftsPart 2. LABOR AND THE CREATIVE CITY, Maria Figueroa, Lois S. Gray, and Thorben Wieditz3. New York Film Production Unions Enter the Political Arena in Search of Tax Subsidies,Maria Figueroa and Lois S. Gray4. Film Unions' Struggle to Defend Studio Space in Toronto, Thorben WieditzPart 3. LABOR AND THE SUSTAINABLE CITY, James Nugent5. Building a Green New York: Construction Unions and Community Alliances, Maria Figueroa6. Struggling for Good Green Jobs in Toronto’s Deindustrializing Suburbs, James NugentPart 4. LABOR AND THE CARING CITY, Simon Black7. Creating a City for Workers: Union Strategies on Child Care in New York City, Susanna F. Schaller, K. C. Wagner, and Mildred E. Warner8. In Defense of "Gold-Plated" Child Care: Union Struggles to Preserve Quality Care and Quality Care Work in Toronto, Simon BlackConclusion, Ian MacDonald

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe One-Way Street of Integration examines two contrasting housing policy approaches to achieving racial justice. Integration initiatives and community development efforts have been for decades contrasting means of achieving racial equity through housing policy. Goetz traces the tensions involved in housing integration and policy to show why he doesn''t see the solution to racial injustice as the government moving poor and nonwhite people out of their communities. The One-Way Street of Integration critiques fair housing integration policies for targeting settlement patterns while ignoring underlying racism and issues of economic and political power. Goetz challenges liberal orthodoxy, determining that the standard efforts toward integration are unlikely to lead to racial equity or racial justice in American cities. In fact, in this pursuit it is the community development movement rather that has the greatest potential for connecting to social change and social jTrade ReviewA courageous work in that Goetz confronts a difficult debate head on. Goetz gives clear guidance about what he believes to be the way forward. * Journal of Planning Education and Research *Should stimulate debate. * Choice *Professor Goetz's sweeping indictment of the well-intentioned effort to advance racial integration deserves thoughtful consideration; it should inspire wide-ranging debate. * The Metropole *Goetz has presented compelling arguments for his position on locating subsidized housing, favoring the community development movement. * Journal of Urban Affairs *Goetz has written an important and timely book. Beyond its substantial contribution to the scholarly literature on American urban policy, infinitely more important is its potential to aid in the ongoing struggle against racial injustice and American white supremacy—something needed now perhaps more than ever. * Shelterforce *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Alternative Approaches to RegionalEquity and Racial Justice 1. The Integration Imperative 2. Affirmatively Furthering Community Development 3. The "Hollow Prospect" of Integration 4. The Three Stations of Fair Housing Spatial Strategy 5. New Issues, Unresolved Questions, and the Widening Debate Conclusion: Everyone Deserves to Live in anOpportunity Neighborhood

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo understand a city fully, writes Di Wang, we must observe its most basic units of social life. In The Teahouse under Socialism, Wang does just that, arguing that the teahouses of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, are some of the most important public spacesperfect sites for examining the social and economic activities of everyday Chinese.Wang looks at the transformation of these teahouses from private businesses to collective ownership and how state policy and the proprietors' response to it changed the overall economic and social structure of the city. He uses this transformation to illuminate broader trends in China's urban public life from 1950 through the end of the Cultural Revolution and into the post-Mao reform era. In doing so, The Teahouse under Socialism charts the fluctuations in fortune of this ancient cultural institution and analyzes how it survived, and even thrived, under bleak conditions.Throughout, Wang asks such questions as: Trade ReviewWritten in plain language, this book is easily accessible to non-professionals interested in Chinese urban culture. Meticulously researched, it also offers new material and insights to scholars in modern Chinese history, urban studies, cultural anthropology, and the sociology of leisure. * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *This book is clearly indispensable reading for anyone interested in modern Chinese social history, but given its accessibility and entertaining narrative style it will appeal to a general audience with concerns about the ways in which urban public space enhances everyday social and cultural experience. * China Review International *The Teahouse Under Socialism is a captivating account of the way in which broad political changes are manifested in small urban spaces. [A] deeply-researched and trans-disciplinary study, [it] makes a valuable contribution not only to Chinese and global urban history but to our understanding of civil society and the public sphere in non-Western contexts. * awards citation from Urban History Association, co-winner of Best Book in Non-North American History, 2017-2018 *Anyone who studies or is interested in PRC history or modern Chinese society should not miss the chance to read this book. * China Review *The Teahouse under Socialism is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand political and cultural change in Mao-era and post-Mao China. * History Reviews of New Books *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Urban Political Transitions under Socialism Part I. The Decline of Public Life, 1950–1976 1. The Demise of the Chengdu Teahouse Guild and the Fall of Small Business 2. State Control and the Rise of Socialist Entertainment 3. The Decline of Public Life under Mao's Rule Part II. The Return of Public Life, 1977–2000 4. The Resurgence of Teahouses in the Reform Era 5. Urban Residents and Migrant Workers in Public Life 6. The Power of Mahjong Conclusion: The State, the Teahouse, and the Public Sphere

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo understand a city fully, writes Di Wang, we must observe its most basic units of social life. In The Teahouse under Socialism, Wang does just that, arguing that the teahouses of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, are some of the most important public spacesperfect sites for examining the social and economic activities of everyday Chinese.Wang looks at the transformation of these teahouses from private businesses to collective ownership and how state policy and the proprietors' response to it changed the overall economic and social structure of the city. He uses this transformation to illuminate broader trends in China's urban public life from 1950 through the end of the Cultural Revolution and into the post-Mao reform era. In doing so, The Teahouse under Socialism charts the fluctuations in fortune of this ancient cultural institution and analyzes how it survived, and even thrived, under bleak conditions.Throughout, Wang asks such questions as: Trade ReviewWritten in plain language, this book is easily accessible to non-professionals interested in Chinese urban culture. Meticulously researched, it also offers new material and insights to scholars in modern Chinese history, urban studies, cultural anthropology, and the sociology of leisure. * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *This book is clearly indispensable reading for anyone interested in modern Chinese social history, but given its accessibility and entertaining narrative style it will appeal to a general audience with concerns about the ways in which urban public space enhances everyday social and cultural experience. * China Review International *The Teahouse Under Socialism is a captivating account of the way in which broad political changes are manifested in small urban spaces. [A] deeply-researched and trans-disciplinary study, [it] makes a valuable contribution not only to Chinese and global urban history but to our understanding of civil society and the public sphere in non-Western contexts. * awards citation from Urban History Association, co-winner of Best Book in Non-North American History, 2017-2018 *Anyone who studies or is interested in PRC history or modern Chinese society should not miss the chance to read this book. * China Review *The Teahouse under Socialism is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand political and cultural change in Mao-era and post-Mao China. * History Reviews of New Books *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Urban Political Transitions under Socialism Part I. The Decline of Public Life, 1950–1976 1. The Demise of the Chengdu Teahouse Guild and the Fall of Small Business 2. State Control and the Rise of Socialist Entertainment 3. The Decline of Public Life under Mao's Rule Part II. The Return of Public Life, 1977–2000 4. The Resurgence of Teahouses in the Reform Era 5. Urban Residents and Migrant Workers in Public Life 6. The Power of Mahjong Conclusion: The State, the Teahouse, and the Public Sphere

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn From Mobility to Accessibility, an expert team of researchers flips the tables on the standard models for evaluating regional transportation performance. Jonathan Levine, Joe Grengs, and Louis A. Merlin argue for an "accessibility shift" whereby transportation planning, and the transportation dimensions of land-use planning, would be based...Trade ReviewLevine, Grengs, and Merlin marshal a compelling case to shift to accessibility-oriented planning, providing much needed conceptual clarity as to what accessibility is and is not. But their book also represents a major step toward transforming accessibility from a vaguely defined aspiration into concrete measures that can guide planning decisions. * Journal of the American Planning Association *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Accessibility Shift 1. What Is Transportation For? 2. Evolution of the Accessibility Concept 3. Accessibility in Everyday Planning 4. Accessibility and Urban Form 5. The Special Case of Public-Transport Accessibility 6. Accessibility in Social-Equity Evaluation 7. Nonwork Accessibility Conclusion: Envisioning the Accessibility Shift

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewFreedomland is the definitive book on the history of Co-op City. * Co-Op City Times *Freedomland dispels the myth of Co-Op City's perceived independence and refocuses it front and center as a landmark to renter's rights and the changing nature of housing in modern New York. * The Bowery Boys *This is the first real history of Co-Op city, and should do much to undo popular misconceptions about the place. * The Gotham Center for New York City History *This is an achievement. Given the lack of history of so many aspects of Bronx life, this tells quite a story. [Sammartino] has done a tremendous job with it. * The Bronx Buzz *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Co-op City and the Story of New York 1. "The World's Greatest Housing Cooperative": Building a New City, 1965–1968 2. "Everyone Was Seekinga Utopia": Building a Community, 1968–1973 3. "We Remember Picket Lines": Cooperator Militancy, 1970–1974 4. "No Way,We Won't Pay": The Rent Strike, 1975–1976 5. "We Inherited a Mess!": After the Rent Strike, 1977–1981 6. "Co-op City Is the Bronx": A Middle-Class Community, 1982–1993 7. "The Biggest Housing Bargain in Town": Achieving Financial Stability, 1981–1993 Epilogue: Freedomland Today

Read more less

Book SynopsisAddressing participatory, transdisciplinary approaches to local stewardship of the environment, Grassroots to Global features scholars and stewards exploring the broad impacts of civic engagement with the environment.Chapters focus on questions that include: How might faith-based institutions in Chicago expand the work of church-community gardens? How do volunteer nature cleaners in Tehran attempt to change Iranian social norms? How does an international community in Baltimore engage local people in nature restoration while fostering social equity? How does a child in an impoverished coal mining region become a local and national leader in abandoned mine restoration? And can a loose coalition that transforms blighted areas in Indian cities into pocket parks become a social movement? From the findings of the authors' diverse case studies, editor Marianne Krasny provides a way to help readers understand the greater implications of civic ecology practices through the lensTrade ReviewBoth eminently practical and theoretically sophisticated. Grassroots to Global will be of great interest to those who focus on civic ecology in particular, or scholars and practitioners who focus on grassroots approaches to social-ecological change in general. * Choice *Grassroots to Global is about reclaiming broken pieces....the text is enhanced with a variety of charts and pictures, and it clearly has a global reach. * Electric Green Journal *Table of ContentsForeword, by Keith G. Tidball Acknowledgments Introduction, by Marianne E. Krasny Part I: CULTURE BUILDING: CHANGING SOCIAL NORMS THROUGH CIVIC ECOLOGY PRACTICES 1. Coming Home to Common Ground in Stressed Communities: Intentional Civic Engagement in the Collins Avenue Streamside Community of Southwest Baltimore, by Jill Wrigley, Mila Kellen Marshall, and Michael Sarbanes 2. The Bitter and the Sweet of Nature: Weaving a Tapestry of Migration Stories, by Veronica Kyle and Laurel Kearns 3. Grassroots Stewardship in Iran: The Rise and Significance of Nature Cleaners, by Karim-Aly Kassam, Zahra Golshani, and Marianne E. Krasny 4. Returning Orange Waters to Blue: Creating a Culture of Civic Engagement through Learning Experiences, by Louise Chawla and Robert E. Hughes Part II: KNOWLEDGE BUILDING: LEARNING IN CIVIC ECOLOGY PRACTICE 5. The Nature of Transformative Learning for Social-Ecological Sustainability, by Martha Chaves and Arjen E. J. Wals 6. Making Knowledge in Civic Ecology Practices: A Community Garden Case Study, by Philip Silva and Rosalba Lopez Ramirez 7. Mapping the Route from Citizen Science to Environmental Stewardship: Integrating Adaptive Management and Civic Ecology Practice, by Rebecca Jordan Part III: MOVEMENT BUILDING: CIVIC ECOLOGY AS STRATEGIC ACTION FIELD 8. Adaptive Management, Adaptive Governance, and Civic Ecology, by Lance Gunderson, Elizabeth Whiting Pierce, and Marianne E. Krasny 9. The Healing Powers of Nature in Joplin's Cunningham Park: Coupling Design-Build and Civic Ecology, by Keith E. Hedges, Traci Sooter, Nancy Chikaraishi, and Marianne E. Krasny 10. Countering Environmental Gentrification through Economic, Cultural, and Political Equity: The 11th Street Bridge Park, by Dennis Chestnut and Marianne E. Krasny 11. Civic Stewardship as a Catalyst for Social-Ecological Change in Detroit, Michigan, by Rebecca Salminen Witt, Erika Svendsen, and Marianne E. Krasny 12. From Practice to Fledgling Social Movement in India: Lessons from "The Ugly Indian", by Aniruddha Abhyankar and Marianne E. Krasny Afterword: Toward a Collaborative Engagement, by David Maddox Notes on Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy focusing on the social and cultural life of post-1965 Taiwan immigrants in Queens, New York, this book shifts Chinese American studies from ethnic enclaves to the diverse multiethnic neighborhoods of Flushing and Elmhurst. As Hsiang-shui Chen documents, the political dynamics of these settlements are entirely different from the traditional closed Chinese communities; the immigrants in Queens think of themselves as living in worldtown, not in a second Chinatown. Drawing on interviews with members of a hundred households, Chen brings out telling aspects of demography, immigration experience, family life, and gender roles, and then turns to vivid, humanistic portraits of three families. Chen also describes the organizational life of the Chinese in Queens with a lively account of the power struggles and social interactions that occur within religious, sports, social service, and business groups and with the outside world.Trade ReviewChinatown No More is an informative addition to the urban, immigrant, and ethnic community literature. -- Sharon M. Lee * Contemporary Sociology *Chen's readable ethnography brings together his insights as both participant in and observer of an extraordinarily significant segment of America's changing ethnic landscape. Teachers from advanced high school onward should welcome this excellent introduction to Taiwan immigrants in Flushing, Queens. Academic specialists focusing on ethnic relations, on the complexities of class in the United States, or on the 'overseas Chinese' will also find Chen's study informative and thought provoking. -- Hill Gates * American Ethnologist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe conceptualization and execution of Repowering Cities are terrific, and provides readers with a deep understanding of why, how, and to what effect cities have mobilized to mitigate the effects of climate change.?Michael J. Rich, Emory University, coauthor of Collaborative Governance for Urban RevitalizationCity governments are rapidly becoming society''s problem solvers. As Sara Hughes shows, nowhere is this more evident than in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto, where the cities'' governments are taking on the challenge of addressing climate change.Repowering Cities focuses on the specific issue of reducing urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and develops a new framework for distinguishing analytically and empirically the policy agendas city governments develop for reducing GHG emissions, the governing strategies they use to implement these agendas, and the direct and catalytic means by which they contribute to climate chaTrade ReviewAs Sara Hughes's Repowering Cities rightly points out,... much of the research on city climate efforts focuses on the adoption of greenhouse gas reduction goals. Hughes is interested in an even more pressing question: once goals are adopted, how do cities move forward with the complicated process of governing emissions? To answer this question, she offers an excellent synthesis of years of scholarship on cities and climate change, then builds on it with her own study of New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. In doing so, Repowering Cities offers a useful illumination of the political challenges of achieving city climate goals. * Global Environmental Politics *I think specialist and non-specialist readers will enjoy this engaging and accessible book. For practitioners, who are often presented with case studies or best practices that highlight the policy options, it can help to equip them with an understanding of how they might pursue such an initiative in their own city. It provides clear examples that cities around the world can replicate immediately – whether they are already leading on climate change mitigation or seeking to catch up. * Local Government Studies *With perhaps a decade to avert the worst consequences of climate change, is urban climate action a lost cause? Far from it, according to Sara Hughes, whose book provides a cross-case comparison of how three major North American cities—New York, Los Angeles and Toronto—have striven to mitigate climate change. Theoretically, Hughes's approach is a valuable contribution to the environmental policy and urban politics literatures, which have relied primarily on institutional, regime theory, and interest-group pluralism explanations for why cities commit to sustainability policies * Perspectives on Politics *Sara Hughes offers a valuable lesson that climate change mitigation is no simple task. There is no template. Every city will face its own mix of challenges and must create its own policies. We can take from this volume the reality that it is not only later than we think, but that change is going to be harder than we imagine. * Journal of Urban Affairs *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Shifting Ambitions and Positions of City Governments 1. Progress or Pipe Dream? Cities and Climate Change Mitigation 2. Evaluating Urban Governance: A Three-Part Framework 3. Made to Measure: Tracing Unique Climate Policy Agendas in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto 4. The Means Behind the Methods: Governing Strategies to Reduce Green house Gas Emissions 5. Are We There Yet? Identifying and Evaluating Urban Progress on Climate Change Mitigation Conclusion: Prospects and Consequences of Repowering Cities Acknowledgments Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe humanist perception of fourteenth-century Rome as a slumbering ruin awaiting the Renaissance and the return of papal power has cast a long shadow on the historiography of the city. Challenging this view, James A. Palmer argues that Roman political culture underwent dramatic changes in the late Middle Ages, with profound and lasting implications for city''s subsequent development. The Virtues of Economy examines the transformation of Rome''s governing elites as a result of changes in the city''s economic, political, and spiritual landscape.Palmer explores this shift through the history of Roman political society, its identity as an urban commune, and its once-and-future role as the spiritual capital of Latin Christendom. Tracing the contours of everyday Roman politics, The Virtues of Economy reframes the reestablishment of papal sovereignty in Rome as the product of synergy between papal ambitions and local political culture. More broadly, Palmer emphasizes RTrade ReviewPalmer tells the political story of how the papacy eventually asserted its mastery of Rome, and he understands governance and power. * SPECULUM *This book is a welcome addition to the history of late medieval Rome, which plunged us into the world of the nascent elite surrounding what will become "the papal prince." * H-Italy *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note about Currency Introduction: Late Medieval Rome, an Elusive Phantom Part One: Rome in the Late Middle Ages 1. Ruin and Reality 2. Power, Morality, and Political Change in Fourteenth- Century Rome Part Two: Performances of Virtue 3. Living and Dying Together: Testamentary Practice in Fourteenth-Century Rome 4. For the Benefit of Souls: Chapels, Virtue, and Justice Part Three: Roman Political Society and the Question of Audience 5. The Houses of Women: Citizens, Spiritual Economy, and Community 6. Good Governance and the Economy of Violence Conclusion: To Govern but Not to Rule Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow do people improvise political communities in the face of state collapseand at what cost? Street Sovereigns explores the risks and rewards taken by young men on the margins of urban Haiti who broker relations with politicians, state agents, and NGO workers in order to secure representation, resources, and jobs for themselves and neighbors. Moving beyond mainstream analyses that understand these groupsknown as baz (base)as apolitical, criminal gangs, Chelsey Kivland argues that they more accurately express a novel mode of street politics that has resulted from the nexus of liberalizing orders of governance and development with longstanding practices of militant organizing in Haiti.Kivland demonstrates how the baz exemplifies an innovative and effective platform for intervening in the contemporary political order, while at the same time reproducing gendered and generational hierarchies and precipitating contests of leadership that exacerbate neighborhood insecuTrade ReviewKivland's fine-grained portraits of her interlocutors are poignant and compelling. * American Anthropologist *In Street Sovereigns, Chelsey Kivland draws on years of ethnographic research to reframe the way we think about political agency, sovereignty, and statemaking in Haiti. Kivland masterfully weaves an analysis that is rich in ethnographic detail and sophisticated in theoretical insight. There is a remarkable humility to her analysis; the result is a work of deep and profound respect. * New West Indian Guide *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Baz 1. Defense 2. History 3. Respect 4. Identity 5. Development 6. Gender Conclusion: The Spiral

Read more less