CENTRAL
TERMS IN CONTEMPORARY URBAN SOCIOLOGY
{PRELUDE: TWO HUNDRED YEARS
AGO ONLY ABOUT 3 PERCENT OF PEOPLE LIVED IN CITIES è THE ONLY CITY IN THE WORLD THAT HAD A
POPULATION OF MORE THAT 1,000,000 WAS PEKING IN CHINA =è TODAY, MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT OF PEOPLE IN
THE WORLD LIVE IN CITIES, AND MORE THAN EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE POPULATIONS OF
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES LIVE IN CITIES è IN FACT, BEING URBAN AND
BEING DEVELOPED OR MODERN CORRELATE CLOSELY =è THE HISTORIC PATH SHOWS CLEARLY THE DEVELOPMENTAL CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE RISE OF CITIES AND THE RISE OF THINGS MODERN.
IN THE BEGINNING, URBAN
SOCIOLOGY BEGAN WITH THE ATTEMPT TO ===> EXAMINE THE HISTORICAL PROCESSES OF
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION IN HISTORY, AND HOW
THEY EFFECT THE WAY WE LIVE AND THINK}.
...
INDUSTRIALIZATION – THE PROCESS BY WHICH SOCIETIES ARE TRANSFORMED FROM DEPENDENCE ON
AGRICULTURE AND HANDMADE PRODUCTS TO AN EMPHASIS ON MANUFACTURING AND RELATED
INDUSTRIES.
URBANIZATION – THE PROCESS BY WHICH AN INCREASING PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION LIVES
IN CITIES RATHER THAN RURAL AREAS.
SECULARIZATION: (A) THE BREAKDOWN OF
TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS TIES OR “RELIGIOUSITY”; (B) THE PROCESS OF CHANGING FROM
SPIRITUAL TO WORLDLY MATTERS (C) THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION AS A SOCIETY
SLOWLY MIGRATES FROM CLOSE IDENTIFICATION WITH THE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS OF
RELIGION TO A MORE CLEARLY SEPARATED RELATIONSHIP.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS – UNDESIRABLE
ADAPTIONS, OR MAL-ADAPTIONS, TO URBAN LIVING, OR
THE DISINTEGRATING INFLUENCES OF THE CITY, THAT REQUIRING CONSTRUCTIVE
REFORM. EX: URBAN HOMELESSNESS, POVERTY, CRIME, PROSTITUTION, DIVORCE, CHRONIC
UNEMPLOYMENT AND MENTAL ILLNESS.
HUMAN
ECOLOGY
– THE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. {EARLY
URBAN SOCIOLOGISTS CAME TO UNDERSTAND THE CITY AS NATURAL AND EVOLUTIONARY
“TOTAL SYSTEM” /IT HAS EMERGING CONTOURS OUT OF THE DYNAMIC OF A PEOPLED AND
ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE =è CITIES ARE LIVING AND
BREATHING AND UNIQUE ENTITIES (?) ======> THE ANALYSIS OF THE CITIES SOCIAL
AND ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION FROM BOTH A DYNAMIC AND STRUCTURAL PERSPECTIVE.
COSMOPOLITANISM – AN ORIENTATION THAT
EXTENDS BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE CITY.
TRANSNATIONALISM – THE PROCESS WHERE IMMIGRANTS ARE INCREASINGLY
CHARACTERIZED NOT AS BEING UPROOTED BUT RATHER AS MAINTAINING MULTIPLE LINKS TO
THEIR HOMELAND THROUGH DEVELOPED NETWORKS, ACTIVITIES, PATTERNS OF LIVING, AND
IDEOLOGIES THAT SPAN NATIONAL BORDERS (BASCH, SCHILLER, AND LANC 1994:4).
MULTICULTURALISM - A NEW CIVIC CULTURE
CREATED ON THE BASIS OF MULTIPLE PUBLICS ======> AN ADAPTION TO THE
PLURALISM OF MODERN URBAN LIFE.
COSMOPOLIS – THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF
THE MIND, A CITY/REGION IN WHICH THERE IS GENUINE CONNECTION WITH, AND RESPECT
AND SPACE FOR, THE CULTURAL OTHER, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF WORKING TOGETHER ON
MATTERS OF COMMON DESTINY, THE POSSIBILITY OF A ‘TOGETHERNESS IN DIFFERENCE’
(SANDERCOCK, 1998).
POLITICAL ECONOMY – THE INTERPETIVE FRAMEWORK THAT UNDERSTANDS
URBANIZATION NOT AS THE RESULT OF NATURAL PROCESSES BUT AS THE RESULT OF
ACTIONS AND DECISIONS BY THOSE WHO HAVE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER {{SOCIAL
THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY: THE COMBINING OF THE TERMS MAKES REFERENCE TO AN
ANALYTIC EMPHASIS ON THE POLITICAL/SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND CONSEQUENCES OF
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY =========> THIS ALL BEGAN WITH EUROPEAN SOCIAL THEORY AND
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE “MATERIALIST CONCEPTION OF HISTORY” OR WHAT MARX CALLED
“DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM” =========> IN WHAT IS CALLED THE BEGINNING OF
“CLASSICAL ECONOMIC THEORY” IT GOES LIKE THIS – POLITICAL ECONOMY WAS THE
ORIGINAL TERM FOR THE STUDY OF PRODUCTION AND THE RELATIONSHIPS OF BUYING AND
SELLING AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO LAWS, CUSTOMS AND GOVERNMENT. ROUSSEAU GIVES
THE ETYMOLOGY OF IT AS COMING FROM OIKO - HOUSE PLUS NOMOS
LAW - THE LAWS OF LIVING. AS SUCH IT WAS USED BY ADAM
SMITH, JOHN STUART MILL, DAVID RICARDO AND KARL MARX, ALONG WITH THE TERM
"ECONOMIST", TO MEAN SOMEONE WHO BELIEVED {BELIEF}THAT
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS COULD BE SOLVED BY MEANS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.}}
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GROUPS – {CHARLES HORTON COOLEY
(1864-1929) STUDIED} THE EXTENT TO WHICH PEOPLE HAVE PERSONAL CONCERN FOR
EACH OTHER IN SOCIAL INTERACTION SETTINGS. A PRIMARY GROUP IS
A SMALL SOCIAL GROUP WHOSE MEMBERS SHARE PERSONAL AND ENDURING RELATIONSHIPS.
RELATIONSHIPS IN SUCH GROUPS HAVE A PERSONAL ORIENTATION. SECONDARY
GROUPS ARE LARGE AND IMPERSONAL SOCIAL [RELATIONS]GROUPS
WHOSE MEMBERS PURSUE A SPECIFIC INTEREST OR ACTIVITY – THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN
THESE TYPES OF GROUPS IS NOT ALWAYS CLEAR IN REAL LIFE.
URBAN PLANNING – "REPRESENTS THE FORMAL, INSTITUTIONAL ATTEMPT TO REGULATE
THE PHYSICAL, ECOLOGICAL, ANDSOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF URBAN GROWTH AND STRUCTURE
ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND INTERESTS" (McGahan, 257) ======> SEEKS
TO
"HARNESS" URBANIZATION SYSTEMATICALLY.INTERSECTING WITH URBAN
PLANNING -- PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SPACE, SPACIAL INVASION AND TERRITORIALITY IN
CITIES (AS THEY AFFECT QUESTIONS OF DESIGN (INSTITUTIONAL/ COMMUNITY) -- URBAN
RENEWAL, URBAN POPULISM, URBAN MUNICIPAL REORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
COMMUNITIES.
…
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION – ADVANCES IN FOOD
PRODUCTION THAT CREATED A FOOD SURPLUS AND WAS MARKED BY THE SHIFY FROM A
NOMADIC HUNTING AND GATHERING LIFESTYLE TO MORE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT THAT OCCURRED
AROUND 6000 BC IN ITS EARLIEST FORM BUT YIELDED MASSIVE STRIDES IN PRODUCTION
WITH MECHNIZATION AFTER 1800.
COLONIALISM – THE ROLE PLAYED BY
POWERFUL NATION-STATES IN ESTABLISHING NEW CITIES IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
DEINDUSTRIZLIZATION/POST-INDUSTRIAL
CITIES
– THE SHIFTY
FROM CITIES THAT FORMERLY HAD A STRONG ECONOMIC BASE IN MECHANIED PRODUCTION TO
AN ECONOMY BASED MORE ON SERVICE INDUSTRIES.
GLOBAL (WORLD) CITIES – A SELECT GROUP OF
DOMINANT CITIES THAT ARE WORLD CENTRES OF FINANCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND
DECISION-MAKING.
HINTERLAND – LOCATIONS BEYOND CITIES
THAT PRODUCE THE FOOD AND SUPPLIES NECESSARY FOR URBAN LIVING.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION – THE BIRTH OF MECHANIZED
PRODUCTION IN FACTORIES, OFTEN LINKED TO THE INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGIN,
WHICH PROVIDED EMPLOYMENT FOR GROWING URBN POPULAITONS BEGINNING IN BRITAIN AND
THEN IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA IN THE LATE 1700S AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.\
PRIMATE CITIES – CITIES THAT ARE
SURPASSINGLY LARGER THAN OTHER CITIES IN A COUNTRY, AND THAT ARE CONDUITES TO
CITIES IN MORE POWERFUL REGIONS.
SOME URBAN ECOLOGIST BELIEVE:
THEIR JOB AS PROVIDING THE EMPIRICAL AND ANALYTIC
TOOLS FOR PLANNERS. (LEWIS WIRTH) IN ORDER TO ACTUALIZE THE TOTAL SYSTEM OF THE
CITY -- TO ENABLE THE "COMMUNITY-AS-A-WHOLE" TO ACT AS A UNIT -- YOU
HAVE TO INCREASE RELIANCE UPON RATIONAL-COMPREHENSIVE URBAN PLANNING.
(HERE) (STIFLING) ADMINISTRATIVE POLITICS IS REPLACE
-- BY A CONSENSUAL POLITICAL ORDER BASED UPON PRINCIPLES OF RATIONALITY AND
SCIENTIFIC URBAN PLANNING (MEGACITY?).
TO ACHIEVE THIS OBJECTIVE HE {WIRTH} WANTED TO
ASSIGN IMPORTANT POLITICAL FUNCTIONS TO URBAN PLANNERS.
(HIS PERSISTENT FEAR OF SOCIETAL
"DISORGANIZATION" (HAMILTON?) AND HIS MISTRUST OF POLITICAL INTERESTS
GROUPS, PROMPTED HIM TO ADVOCATE THE "REPLACEMENT OF POLITICS BY
PLANNING".
RATIONAL INTELLECTUAL DISCOURSE ABOUT SOCIAL ILLS AND POLICY PROBLEMS
MIGHT TRANSCEND THE LIMITED AND PARTICULARISTIC PERSPECTIVES OF "SPECIAL
INTEREST GROUPS".
(WIRTH) HOPED THAT EMPIRICAL RESEARCH WOULD BECOME A
BASIC PLANNING TOOL, PROVIDING THE VITAL LINK BETWEEN THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND
PUBLIC POLICY.
WIRTH BELIEVED THE "HUMAN ECOLOGY" WAS THE
APPROACH BEST SUITED TO PROVIDE URBAN PLANNING WITH A WELL-GROUNDED THEORETICAL
BASE.
LEGACY
OF CLASSICAL URBAN SOCIOLOGY:
1.
THE
EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE CITY AS A “SOCIAL LABORATORY,” IN WHICH INSTITUTIONS
AND PATTERNS OF ASSOCIATION ARE EXAMINED WITHOUT PREJUDGEMENT.
2.
CAREFUL OBSERVATION {EG. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION/ ETHNOGRAPHY} OF THE VARIED ASPECTS OF
URBAN LIFE BECOME THE FOUNDATION FOR GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT ITS STRUCTURE
3.
CONCERN
FOR THE DISINTEGRATING INFLUENCES OF CITY LIE AND THE PROBLEMS
THAT ARE DELETERIOUS QUALITY/ BALANCED LIVING.
4.
THE
ATTEMPT TO GRASP THE NATURE OF THE URBAN ORDER AS A TOTAL SOCIAL SYSTEM
THROUGH CONSTRUCTION OF TYPES
THE
CHICAGO SCHOOL IS A MAJOR INFLUENCE IN THE STUDY OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY. DESPITE HAVING
STUDIED CITIES IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, THE CHICAGO SCHOOL IS STILL
RECOGNIZED AS IMPORTANT. MANY OF THEIR FINDINGS HAVE BEEN REFINED OR REJECTED,
BUT THE LASTING IMPACT OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL CAN STILL BE FOUND IN TODAY'S
TEACHINGS =====> THE RESEARCH
INTO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT BY COMBINING THEORY AND ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK
IN CHICAGO, NOW APPLIED ELSEWHERE. WHILE INVOLVING SCHOLARS AT SEVERAL CHICAGO
AREA UNIVERSITIES, THE TERM IS OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY TO REFER TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO'S SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT—ONE OF THE OLDEST AND ONE OF THE
MOST PRESTIGIOUS. FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, A "SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL"
AROSE WHOSE MEMBERS USED SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM COMBINED WITH METHODS OF
FIELD RESEARCH, TO CREATE A NEW BODY OF WORKS. FOR A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY
OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL, SEE MARTIN BULMER (1984) AND LESTER KURTZ (1984).
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY URBAN SOCIOLOGY
THE FOCUS OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY
A) TRADITIONAL THEORIES WERE CONCERNED WITH
THE SOCIAL ORDER IN CITIES.
B) RECENT URBAN THEORIES TEND TO BE MORE CONCERNED WITH JUSTICE,
SOCIAL CONTROL AND THE INEQUALITIES OF THE MARKET PLACE THAN WITH SOCIAL ORDER.
CLASSIC “URBAN SOCIOLOGY” DISPLAYED CONCERN FOR THE DISINTEGRATING
INFLUENCE OF THE CITY AND THE PROBLEMS IN MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER
DISCOVERY/EX: THOSE CONDITIONS THAT MAKE
URBAN GROWTH POSSIBLE ASLO ENCOURAGE A BREAKDOWN IN PRIMARY GROUP RELATIONS.
(EX:
BECAUSE OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, PEOPLE HAVE
MOVED FARTHER DISTANCES AWAY FROM THEIR FELLOWS, AND ASSOCIATIONS AND CONTACTS
HAVE BECOME MORE TRANSITORY AND LESS STABLE)
MODERN URBAN SOCIOLOGY IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE
STUDY OF “SOCIAL STRATIFICATION” SYSTEMS {THE CITY IS NOT ONLY A FEBRILE
ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMIC, IT IS ALSO VEHICLE FOR THE
TRANSMISSION OF CULTURE =====> IT IS A HIERARCHICAL RANKING OR STATUS SYSTEM
– RESULTING IN STRUCTURED SOCIAL
INEQUALITY.
CLASSIC
URBAN SOCIOLOGY STUDIED THE DISINTEGRATING INFLUENCE OF THE CITY AND THE PROBLEMS IN
MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER ========> CONTEMPORARY URBAN SOCIOLOGY STUDIES
THE DISINTEGRATING INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION/DISPLACEMENT IN THE
CITY AND THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH STRUCTURED SOCIAL INEQUALITY.
{THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN URBAN SOCIOLOGY OF OLD
AND CONTEMPORARY URBAN SOCIOLOGY IS THE APPROACH TO “SOCIAL PROBLEMS”
=======> EARLY SOCIOLOGIST FOCUSED ON “SOCIAL ORDER” AS THE ANALYIC POINT OF
DEPARTURE =======> AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY FOCUSES ON “SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION” AS THE ANALYIC POINT OF DEPARTURE SOURCE}
{EX: HOW ARE BLACK
YOUTH “PROBLEMATIZED” IN THE CITY? ====> IS IT A FEATURE
OF DISINTEGRATION OF FAMILY LIFE – OR – SOCIAL EXCLUSION/POLARIZATION?}