Description
Book SynopsisNicknamed the International Express, the 7 subway line runs through a series of diverse neighborhoods in Queens. Stéphane Tonnelat and William Kornblum ride the 7 to show how mastery of life in the subway space is a step toward assimilation for immigrants and newcomers.
Trade ReviewAs a lifelong resident of Flushing and a lifelong rider of the Flushing line, I'm absolutely thrilled about this new book. Tonnelat and Kornblum have become one with the 7, a gritty transit spoke that for generations has doubled as a lifeline as it meanders seemingly halfway around the world right through a dozen neighborhoods in Queens. -- John Liu, former New York City comptroller and councilman
A wonderful journey on the 7 train with Tonnelat and Kornblum providing a detailed picture of the subway community in transit. Filled with fascinating stories and analyses of gender relations, ethnic diversity, and social order underground, this well-written and insightful book will be a delight for anyone who rides or is curious about the world of the New York City subway. -- Nancy Foner, editor of
One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First CenturyInternational Express offers a richly detailed portrait of interethnic, gendered, and age-specific relationships as lived in the everyday practice of urban life. By focusing their microsociology on the 7 train and Jackson Heights' famously international immigrant population, Tonnelat and Kornblum reveal a protean paradox: the intimate interpersonal challenges of negotiating one's way through a social world of tightly confined strangers is key to the dynamic creativity of the contemporary city. -- Jack Katz, University of California, Los Angeles
What a pleasure it was to read this book!
International Express is a tour through a central vein in what is perhaps the most essentially American city, from midtown offices through a variety of immigrant and native-born neighborhoods with different ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic makeups. It is a treat to walk through the subway with Tonnelat and Kornblum and see our shared life through their keen eyes. -- Robert Smith, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, and Graduate Center, City University of New York
Through their study of the subway system as a microcosm of a diverse society, Tonnelat and Kornblum make a significant contribution to urban studies. * Publishers Weekly *
This work will be of greatest interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of urban planning, urban studies, and urban sociology. The book is quite accessible, however, and not laden with overly theoretical language. For this reason, it also may be of interest to more general readers with an interest in urban studies and related issues. Highly recommended. * Choice *
A fascinating portrait * City Lab *
By the end of this intellectual ride, the authors ultimately succeed in identifying and evaluating how the time, space and perceptions of the subway interrupt and define multitudes of city-dwellers in the ‘Big Apple’. -- Jeff Roquen * LSE Review of Books *
International Express will be of interest to urban sociologists, notably for its breadth of data sources and consideration of an urban social order. * City & Community *
A wonderful book that I highly recommend. It is well worth the ride. * American Journal of Sociology *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1. Becoming New Yorkers on the 7 Train
2. Coping with Diversity Aboard the "International Express"
3. Walking to the Stations, Code Switching, and the I-We-You Shift
4. The 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue Station: Universalism, Differentiation, and Discrimination
5. Trust in the Subway: Exploring the Situational Community in Transit
6. Gender Relations on the Subway
7. Teenagers on the 7 Train
8. Subway City: The 7 Train as an Engine of Urbanism
9. A World of Subway Citizens
Appendix: Mixed Methods in Subway Research
Notes
Bibliography
Index
