Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“
City of Dignity is an impressive work of scholarship and an exciting and valuable book. Dempsey’s important and well-conceived argument is that a distinctive religious urban politics of dignity emerged in postwar Los Angeles—a crucial contrast to the simultaneous, and better-known, evangelical movements in American politics.” * Shana Bernstein, author of Bridges of Reform: Interracial Civil Rights Activism in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles *
“In this smart and important book, Dempsey demonstrates that we cannot understand politics and reform in postwar Los Angeles without understanding the contributions of progressive Christian activists. While the suburban warriors of the religious right claimed the headlines, Dempsey highlights the liberal activists who sought peace and justice in the City of Angels.” * Matthew Avery Sutton, author of American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism *
“In this illuminating book, Dempsey demonstrates that progressive movements in postwar Los Angeles are significantly linked with ecumenical Christian liberalism. From fair housing, to gay rights, to the Sanctuary City, liberal Christian leaders and laypeople served as significant place-makers across the metropolitan region, even as their efforts have gone largely unnoticed until now.
City of Dignity fills a large gap in Los Angeles scholarship.” * Jerry Gonzalez, University of Texas at San Antonio *
Table of ContentsIntroduction City of Dignity
One Trials by Fire: Father George Dunne and Social Justice in Postwar Los Angeles
Two Prophets of the Secular City: The Churches and the Urban Crisis in 1960s Los Angeles
Three Making the Global Grassroots: Church-Based Community Organizing in 1970s Los Angeles
Four Human Rights and Religious Pluralism in Multicultural Los Angeles
Five City of Refugees, City of Sanctuary
Six Time of Visitation: Social Christianity and Economic Justice in Post-1992 Los Angeles
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
