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}.

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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 PROBLEMSUNDESIRABLE 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?}