CITIES, CHANGE, AND CONFLICT - A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN LIFE discusses the importance of cities for the economic, cultural, and political life of modern societies. The authors consistently use the political economy perspective to introduce students to the basic concepts and research in urban sociology, while also acknowledging the contributions of the human ecology perspective. Through the use of case studies, the presentation remains accessible and down-to-earth, engaging the student in the material.

Cities, Change, and Conflict

Politics & Social Sciences

Kleniewski, Nancy

Thomas, Alexander R.

Sociology

Wadsworth Publishing

Critical Rural Theory is an attempt to bring together the concepts of structure, space, and culture in order to explain the relationship between rural communities and urban society. The overarching theme revolves around the many ways-structural, spatial, and cultural-in which urban systems create and maintain a hegemonic relationship with rural areas and people. Central to this theme is the concept of urbanormativity: the cultural assumption of the dominance and superiority of urban communities and patterns of life. Urbanormativity is an outgrowth of the structural forces in an urban society that favor the interests of cities over those of the countryside, of a generally exploitative relationship between the two. The structure of a society is encoded in the settlement space, which in turn influences one's experience. The experience of social space produces cultural dynamics that are reproduced from generation to generation. These mechanisms are explored through popular culture, physical patterns of urban expansion, and historical patterns of social change.

Critical Rural Theory: Structure, Space, Culture

Lowe, Brian

Fulkerson, Greg

Smith, Polly

Social Sciences

Lexington Books

Critical Rural Theory is an attempt to bring together the concepts of structure, space, and culture in order to explain the relationship between rural communities and urban society. The overarching theme revolves around the many ways-structural, spatial, and cultural-in which urban systems create and maintain a hegemonic relationship with rural areas and people. Central to this theme is the concept of urbanormativity: the cultural assumption of the dominance and superiority of urban communities and patterns of life. Urbanormativity is an outgrowth of the structural forces in an urban society that favor the interests of cities over those of the countryside, of a generally exploitative relationship between the two. The structure of a society is encoded in the settlement space, which in turn influences one's experience. The experience of social space produces cultural dynamics that are reproduced from generation to generation. These mechanisms are explored through popular culture, physical patterns of urban expansion, and historical patterns of social change.

The Evolution of the Ancient City: Urban Theory and the Archaeology of the Fertile Crescent (Comparative Urban Studies)

Urban theory and archaeology merge to create a readable discussion of how ancient cities came to be. Although many consider our modern social ills to be the consequence of Capitalism, many urban problems are traceable to pre-Capitalist times and thus are more related to Urbanization. Ancient cities shared many characteristics with modern cities. For instance, the ancient cities of Rome and Carthage at the time of Christ had population densities approaching that of Manhattan Island today. The Canaanites, fifteen hundred years before, lived in cities oriented toward trade and dependent upon mass production of such items as wine, olive oil, and the pottery to contain such goods. Over three thousand years before the Common Era, the city of Uruk was part of a larger "global system" that resembled in its own way the globalization that we know today. Cities first arose in Mesopotamia about 5,500 years ago, but for 5,500 years before the rise of cities the small agricultural village was the most complex form of human social organization―clearly there was nothing inevitable about the city. The Evolution of the Ancient City explores what we can learn of modern cities by tracing the development of ancient cities.

History

Ancient Civilizations

Urban theory and archaeology merge to create a readable discussion of how ancient cities came to be. Although many consider our modern social ills to be the consequence of Capitalism, many urban problems are traceable to pre-Capitalist times and thus are more related to Urbanization. Ancient cities shared many characteristics with modern cities. For instance, the ancient cities of Rome and Carthage at the time of Christ had population densities approaching that of Manhattan Island today. The Canaanites, fifteen hundred years before, lived in cities oriented toward trade and dependent upon mass production of such items as wine, olive oil, and the pottery to contain such goods. Over three thousand years before the Common Era, the city of Uruk was part of a larger "global system" that resembled in its own way the globalization that we know today. Cities first arose in Mesopotamia about 5,500 years ago, but for 5,500 years before the rise of cities the small agricultural village was the most complex form of human social organization—clearly there was nothing inevitable about the city. The Evolution of the Ancient City explores what we can learn of modern cities by tracing the development of ancient cities.

On the night of October 18, 1925, fire raged through the downtown area of the tiny Catskill Mountain Village of Gilboa, New York. Firefighters came from miles around to fight the inferno while tourists sat on the hilltops to watch the show. In the end, 18 buildings lay in smoldering ruins. Yet, this fire was not the end of Gilboa, merely a climax of events that were razing the community more slowly. Gilboa was in the way of the Schoharie Reservoir, one of the numerous artificial lakes collecting water for thirsty New Yorkers. In order for New York City to growing, the people of Gilboa would be forced to move, and the town would need to be burned to the ground. In Gilboa, Alexander Thomas traces the evolving dynamics between New York and its hinterland. Starting with the role of native inhabitants, their Dutch colonizers, and the role of British manor law, this historical investigation then explores the construction of the original reservoir, battles against a second reservoir in the 1970s, and battles over environmental regulations in the 1990s. Gilboa is a must read for those interested in urban and rural issues, social conflict and social movements, and anyone who enjoys New York-state and city-history.

Gilboa: New York's Quest for Water and the Destruction of a Small Town

Americas

University Press of America

Upstate Down: Thinking about New York and its Discontents

Upstate New York is in a malaise. This husband and wife team of sociologists, Alexander Thomas and Polly Smith, wanted to know why. They take the reader on a tour of New York in order to diagnose the problems affecting the state and what can be done to address the issues. New York was built on the strengths of its strategic location and growing population to become the 'Empire State' during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But a combination of unfortunate decisions and the creation of new technologies in which New York was no more competitive than other states translated into New York losing its dominant position in the world economy. The result has been several decades of deindustrialization and population loss. This book includes recommendations for ideas that can be further developed by the public.

Business & Money

Smith, Polly J.

Economics

Upstate New York is in a malaise and sociologists Alexander Thomas and Polly Smith wanted to know why. They take the reader on a tour of New York in order to diagnose the problems affecting the state and what can be done to address the issues.

In Gotham's Shadow: Globalization and Community Change in Central New York

Examines the effects of globalization on three New York communities―Utica, Cooperstown, and Hartwick. In what may be the first explicitly comparative study of the effects of globalization on metropolitan and rural communities, In Gotham’s Shadow examines how three central New York communities struggled over the last half century to survive in a global economy that seems to have forgotten them. Utica, formerly a city of one hundred thousand, experienced the same trends of suburbanization, deindustrialization, and urban renewal as nearly every American city, with the same mixed results. In Cooperstown and Hartwick, two small villages forty miles south of Utica, the same trends were at work, though with different outcomes. Hartwick may be seen as an example of how small towns have lost their core, while Cooperstown may be seen as an example of how a small town can survive by transforming itself into a tourist destination. Thomas provides extensive historical background mixed with newspaper excerpts and lively interviews that add a human dimension to the transformations these communities have experienced.

State University of New York Press

Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life

Fulkerson, Gregory

Reference

Routledge

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thomas, Alexander R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Thomas, Alexander R.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thomas, Alexander R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Cities, Change, and Conflict

Critical Rural Theory: Structure, Space, Culture

Critical Rural Theory: Structure, Space, Culture

The Evolution of the Ancient City: Urban Theory and the Archaeology of the Fertile Crescent (Comparative Urban Studies)

The Evolution of the Ancient City: Urban Theory and the Archaeology of the Fertile Crescent (Comparative Urban Studies)

Gilboa: New York's Quest for Water and the Destruction of a Small Town

Upstate Down: Thinking about New York and its Discontents

Upstate Down: Thinking about New York and its Discontents

In Gotham's Shadow: Globalization and Community Change in Central New York

Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life