The Urban Sociology Reader

Routledge Urban Reader Series

by Jan Lin (Editor), Christopher Mele (Editor)

The urban world is a provocative terrain on which to contemplate the central institutions, structures and problems of the social world and how they have transformed over the last 200 years. This Reader traverses this terrain through sections on urban social theory, social difference in the city, culture in everyday life, culture and the urban economy, globalization and the world system and urban social movements. 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.

Genres: Sociology

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of essays gives you a good background on many important sociological ideas. Most of these ideas, however--especially in the early days of the profession--can be written off as pseudo-science. The entire field utterly lacks the empiricism of real scientific pursuit, and I imagine that a great number of these ideas will be scoffed at when the fashionable ways of thinking inevitably change in the future. Still, some of it is quite interesting and will probably entertain you. (Though, much of it is very dry, so be warned!)