The Urban Sociology Reader by Lin, Jan; Mele, Christopher;

Short description:

Drawing together seminal selections covering the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, this Reader includes forty significant writings from eminent names such as Simmel, Wirth, Park, Burgess, Zukin, Sassen, Smith and Castells. Selections are predominantly sociological, but some readings cross disciplinary boundaries.  Providing an essential resource for students of urban studies, this book brings together important but, until now, widely dispersed writings. Editorial commentaries precede each entry; introducing the text, demonstrating its significance, and outlining the issues surrounding its topic, whilst the associated bibliography enables deeper investigations.

Long description:

The urban world is an exciting terrain for investigating the central institutions, structures and problems of the social world and how they have transformed through the last 200 years. This Reader comprises sections on urban social theory, racial and social difference in the city, culture in everyday life, culture and the urban economy, globalization and transnational social relations and the regulation of urban space.

Drawing together seminal selections covering the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, this Reader includes forty-three significant writings from eminent names such as Simmel, Wirth, Park, Burgess, DuBois, Zukin, Sassen, and Harvey. The 2^nd edition illuminates more recent urban issues such as sprawl, sustainability, immigration and urban protest. Selections are predominantly sociological, but some readings cross disciplinary boundaries.

Providing an essential resource for students of urban studies, this book brings together important but, till now, widely dispersed writings. Editorial commentaries precede each entry; introducing the text, demonstrating its significance, and outlining the issues surrounding its topic, whilst the associated bibliography enables deeper investigations.

Table of Contents:

Part 1: Urbanization and Community 1. Community and Society Ferdinand Tonnies 2. The Metropolis and Mental Life Georg Simmel 3. Urbanism as a Way of Life Louis Wirth 4. Theories of Urbanism Claude S. Fischer 5. The Uses of City Neighborhoods Jane Jacobs 6. Networks, Neighborhoods, and Communities Barry Wellman 7. Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital Robert Putnam Part 2: Understanding Urban Growth in the Capitalist City 8. Human Ecology Robert Park 9. The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project Ernest Burgess 10. The Urban Process under Capitalism: A Framework for Analysis David Harvey 11. The City as a Growth Machine John Logan and Harvey Molotch 12. Partnership and the Pursuit of the Private City Gregory Squires 13. Los Angeles and the Chicago School: Invitation to a Debate Michael Dear 14. Cities and the Geographies of Actually Existing Neoliberalism Neil Brenner and Nik Theodore 15. Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf and Todd Swanstrom 16. Urban Ecological Footprints: Why Cities Cannot Be Sustainable—And Why They Are A Key to Sustainability William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel Part 3: Racial and Social Inequality 17. The Philadelphia Negro W.E.B. DuBois 18. The Cost of Racial and Class Exclusion in the Inner City Loic Wacquant and William Julius Wilson 19. Segregation and the Making of the Underclass Douglas S. Massey and Nancy Denton 20. The Immigrant Enclave: Theory and Empirical Examples Alejandro Portes and Robert D. Manning More