Introducing Urban Anthropology

Description

This book provides an up-to-date introduction to the important field of urban anthropology. This is a critical area of study, as more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities and anthropological research is increasingly done in an urban context. Exploring contemporary anthropological approaches to the urban, the authors consider: How can we define urban anthropology? What are the main themes of twenty-first-century urban anthropological research? What are the possible future directions in the field? The chapters cover topics such as urban mobilities, place-making and public space, production and consumption, and politics and governance. These are illustrated by lively case studies drawn from urban settings across the world. Accessible yet theoretically incisive, Introducing Urban Anthropology will be a valuable resource for anthropology students and also for those working in urban studies and related disciplines such as sociology and geography. The revised second edition includes updated theoretical discussions and new ethnographic case studies. It features a new chapter on neoliberalism, austerity and solidarity, and engages more extensively with digital transformations of urban life. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Figures and boxes Preface Chapter 1 Introduction Why Urban Anthropology? Situating Urban Anthropology Historical Developments Urban Anthropology’s Predecessors Early Urban Anthropology Late Twentieth-Century ‘Turns’ Anthropologists and the Contemporary City Doing Urban Anthropology Not Your Usual Field? Urban Methods Studying Up and Studying Through Mobile Methods and Mental Mapping Structure of the Book Discussion Questions Further Reading References Part I At Home in the City? Chapter 2 Urban Places Place-making, Place Attachment and the Politics of Belonging Discursive Forms of Place-Making Sensory and Affective Forms of Place-Making Sacred Place-Making Buildings Architecture Domestic Space Neighborhoods Low-income and Marginalized Settlements Segregation and Displacement Transnational Urban Places Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 3 Urban Mobilities Mobility and Identities Walking the City Urban Automobility Mobility and Inequality Disability Traffic The Cultural Politics of Mobility Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 4 Social Life in Public Space Contextualizing Public Space Public Social Life in Context Intersectional Positioning Everyday Spatial Regimes The Micropolitics of Social Life in Public Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Part II Crafting Urban Lives and Lifestyles Chapter 5 Urban Economies From National Development to Neoliberal Restructuring Urban Industries, Labor and Class Formation Mining Towns Post-industrial Landscapes The Gig Economy and Platform Labor Informality and Formality in the Urban Economy Urban Economic Places The Market The Factory The Street The Home Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 6 Consumption, Leisure and Lifestyles Consumption and Distinction Cultural Capital Consumer Citizenship Consumption, Leisure and Space Creating New Spaces of Leisure and Consumption Leisure Geographies Consuming Urban Space Urban Lifestyles, Scenes and Popular Culture Urban Popular Culture, Place-Making and Marginalization Urban Fashion, Cosmopolitanism and Modernity Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 7 Neoliberalism and Its Discontents Neoliberal Cities The Global City and Its Inequalities The Entrepreneurial City Neoliberal Urban Policies and the Poor Evicted Austerity and Solidarity Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Part III Politics in and of the City Chapter 8 Planning the City Colonial Cities, Urban Planning and Sanitary Reform Sanitary Reform Modernist Utopias and Visions of Urban Improvement New Towns Post-conflict and Post-Disaster Reconstruction The ‘Problem’ of Informal Settlements The Politics of Urban Infrastructure Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 9 Cities, Citizenship and Politics Cities and Citizenship Differentiated and Insurgent Citizenship Formal and Informal Politics Electoral Politics Informal Politics Social Movements Political Mobilization and Public Space Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 10 Violence, Security and Social Control Anthropologies of Violence Criminal, Ethno-Religious and Political Violence Violence, Fear and Urban Space Spatial Narratives Urban Mobilities Urban Form and the Built Environment Police, Spatial Governmentality and Social Control Security and Sovereignty Beyond the State Private Security Informal Private Security and Vigilantism Conclusion Discussion Questions Further Reading Further Viewing References Chapter 11 Conclusion: The Futures of Urban Anthropology Urban Digitalization Urban Ecologies, Climate Crisis and More-Than-Human Cities Urban Futures References Bibliography Index