The urban experience

by Claude S. Fischer

A discussion of the social and physical contexts and consequences of urban life.

309 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Jonathan]

Promotes "subcultural theory" as an alternative to two broad interpretations of city life: the idea that urbanization radically changes social life ("for the worse" is implied in most cases), and the idea that urbanization merely brings certain kinds of person to the city that already existed, in lower concentrations, in the town or country. Taking elements from each view, Fischer emphasizes the diversity of "urban" forms and experiences, arguing that urbanization generally changes social life merely by providing a matrix within which like-minded individuals can meet and form thriving subcultures. In a small town, for example, watching classic film might be the pastime of one or two people; in a city, hundreds of cinephiles can meet and form a community. Thus, Fischer suggests, cities do promote different ways of living, but not by radically altering individual mental life. Cities don't make people different; they let people be different together.