URBAN

Sociology 360	Tu/Th 10:00-11:25
Fall 1999	Office: Swan N203
Professor Jan Lin	Phone: 259-2994

URBAN SOCIOLOGY

What effects has the historical emergence of cities had on human psychology and public life? How do urban places structure social relations as well as signifying identities and cultural meanings? Is there a common "human ecology" of the urban world in "natural areas" such as the CBD, skid row, the "Tenderloin" or the "Rialto?" This course gives a broad introduction to urban sociology, beginning with the historical and theoretical roots of the field. We then focus on the urban underclass, through case studies of the African American ghetto and the Latino barrio, with attention to public policy perspectives on urban poverty. The third unit examines the range of urban futures downtown and on the urban edge. We consider central-city revitalization through gentrification, growth machine boosterism (sports franchises, casinos), and the evolving postindustrial city of consumption (conventions, festival marketplaces and urban theme parking). Finally we explore the relationships between technology, cities, and urban planning.

BOOKS AND READER

Purchase books from Occidental College Bookstore and Reader from Social Sciences administrative assistant Sue Flaherty in Swan M213. The Reader comes in two parts. Book reading assignments are marked with a (B) on the syllabus and Reader assignments with an (R). A copy of each book will be on reserve. The Reader will not be available on reserve.

Bourgois, Philippe. 1995. In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Gottdiener, Mark. 1997. The Theming of America. Boulder: Westview Press.

LeGates, Richard T. and Frederick Stout. 1996. The City Reader. London: Routledge.

Wilson, William Julius. 1987.The Truly Disadvantaged . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

FILMS

Three films have been scheduled for screenings at evening sessions in addition to the regular class schedule. If you miss these screenings, you can view the film on your own time (the films will be on reserve). You must write a reaction paper for each film, due the class meeting after the screening.

Chinatown
Boyz N the Hood
Bladerunner

EVALUATION

Examination                                                      30%
First Paper                                                        30%
Final Research Paper                                      30%
Three film reviews and class participation    10%

First Unit Examination Second Unit Paper Final Projects

Chinatown Review Boyz N the Hood Review Bladerunner Review

Class Calendar

Aug 26 Introduction to the course

URBAN HISTORY AND THEORY

Aug 31          The Origin of Cities
                       Kingsley Davis, pp. 1-11 in The City Reader (B)
                       John Pfeiffer, "How Man Invented Cities" (R)
                       Robert M. Adams, "The Origin of Cities" (R)
                       V. Gordon Childe, pp. 20-31 in The City Reader (B)
                       Janet Abu-Lughod, "The Origin and Development of Cities" (R)

Sep 2            The Democratic City: Greece to the Renaissance
                       H.D.F. Kitto, "The Polis," pp. 31-36 in The City Reader (B)
                       Lewis Mumford, selections on polis from The City in History (R)
                       Richard Sennett, selections from Flesh and Stone (R)
                       Henri Pirenne, medieval cities, pp. 37-45 in The City Reader (B)

Sep 7            The Industrial Revolution and European Cities
                       Walter Benjamin, "Paris: Capital of the Nineteenth Century" (R)
                       Richard Sennett, selections from The Fall of Public Man, 3-27, 125-149 (R)
                       Friedrich Engels, "The Great Towns," pp. 46-55 in The City Reader (B)

Sep 9            The Concept of Urbanism
                       Ferdinand Tonnies, "Community and Society" (R)
                       Robert Redfield, "The Folk Society" (R)
                       Georg Simmel, "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (R)
                       Louis Wirth, "Urbanism as a Way of Life," pp. 189-197 in The City Reader (B)

Sep 14          Critiques of Urbanism
                       Claude S. Fischer, "Theories of Urbanism" (R)
                       Herbert Gans, "Urbanism and Suburbanism as Ways of Life" (R)
                       David Karp, "The Social Organization of Everyday Life" (R)

Sep 16          Human Ecology
                       Robert Park, "Human Ecology" (R)
                       Ernest Burgess, "The Growth of the City," pp. 89-97 in The City Reader (B)
                       Harvey Zorbaugh, "The Natural Areas of the City" (R)

Sep 21          The Sociocultural School
                       Walter Firey, "Sentiment and Symbolism..." (R)
                       G. Suttles, "The Cumulative Texture of Local Urban Culture" (R)
                       Burton Pike, "The City as Image," pp. 242-249 in The City Reader (B)

[Sep 22         View Chinatown at 7:30 pm, Weingart 117]

Sep 23          Discussion of film and historical development of Los Angeles
                       Janet Abu-Lughod, "Los Angeles Becomes `Anglo'" (R)
                       Mike Davis, "Chinatown Revisited? The Internationalization of Downtown L.A." (R)

Sep 28          In-Class Examination

Sep 30          Community and Race in Los Angeles
                       Robert Fogelson, "The Quest for Community" (R)
                       Wei Li, "Building Ethnoburbia" (R)

CLASS, RACE, AND POOR PLACES

Oct 5, 7         Defining the Urban Underclass
                       Herbert Gans, "Labelling the Poor" (R)
                       Oscar Lewis, "The Culture of Poverty," pp. 217-224 in The City Reader (B)
                       William J. Wilson, pp. 3-62 in The Truly Disadvantaged (B)
                       John Kasarda, "The Jobs/Skills Mismatch" in The City Reader (B)

Oct 11-12 No Class - Fall Holiday

[Oct 13 View Boyz N the Hood at 7:30 pm in Weingart 117]

Oct 14 Spatial Apartheid and Oppositional Culture
Douglas Massey and Nancy A. Denton, "The Missing Link" and "American Apartheid" (R)

Oct 19, 21 Philippe Bourgois, pp. 1-113, In Search of Respect (B)
Philippe Bourgois, pp. 114-258, In Search of Respect (B)

Oct 26 Philippe Bourgois, pp. 259-337, In Search of Respect (B)

Oct 28, Nov 2 The Underclass and Welfare Policy
                      William J. Wilson, pp. 109-164 in The Truly Disadvantaged (B)
                      Charles Murray, pp. 232-241 in The City Reader (B)
                      Herbert Gans, "Policies Against Poverty and Undeservingness" (R)
                      Robert Halpern, "Emerging Neighborhood-Based Initiatives" (R)
                      Mary Jo Bane, "Welfare As We Might Know It" (R)
                      Dana Milbank, "Under the Underclass"(R)
                      William J. Wilson, "From `Racial Preference' to Affirmative Opportunity" (R)

URBAN FUTURES: GENTRIFICATION AND THE CITY OF CONSUMPTION

Nov 4            Gentrification at the Core
                      London and Palen, "Introduction..." (R)
                      Roberta Brandes Gratz, "Gentrification and Displacement," (R)
                      Neil Smith, "Is Gentrification A Dirty Word?" (R)

Nov 9            First Paper Due
                      Growth Machines, Sports, and Global Capital
                      Logan and Molotch, "The City as a Growth Machine" (R)
                      Judd and Swamstrom, "Urban Economic Development" (R)
                      Briavel Holcomb, "Revisioning Place" (R)
                      Mark S. Rosentraub, "Does the Emperor Have New Clothes?" (R)
                      Saskia Sassen, pp. 69-74 and 299-304 in The City Reader (B)

Nov 11, 16   The City of Consumption
                      Mark Gottdiener, Chapters 1-4 in The Theming of America (B)
                      Sharon Zukin, "Whose Culture? Whose City?" (R)
                      Margaret Crawford, "The World in a Shopping Mall" (R)

Nov 18          Las Vegas and Disneyland
                      Mark Gottdiener, Chapter 5 in The Theming of America (B)
                      John Findlay, "Disneyland: The Happiest Place on Earth" (R)
                      Jean Baudrillard, "Simulacra and Simulations: Disneyland" (R)
                      Proposals for Final Paper Due

Nov 23          Urban Theme Parking/Hollywood
                      Christine Boyer, "Cities for Sale..." (R)
                      Jan Lin, "Dream Factory Redux" (R)
                      Mark Gottdiener, Chapters 6-7 in The Theming of America (R)

Nov 25 No Class - Thanksgiving Holiday

Nov 30          Privatopia/Disney's Celebration
                      Russ Rymer, "Back to the Future" (R)
                      Timothy Egan, "Many Seek Security in Private Communities" (R)
                      Dennis R. Judd, "The Rise of the New Walled Cities" (R)
                      Russ Philip Langdon, "The Rediscovery of the Town" (R)
                      Mike Davis, "Fortress L.A." from The City Reader (B)

[Dec 1 View Blade Runner at 7:30 pm in Weingart 117]

Dec 2           Cyborgs, the City, and the Internet
                      Celeste Olalquiaga, "Reach Out and Touch Someone," (R)
                      Kevin Kelley, "Embrace It" (R)
                      Howard Rheingold, "Disinformocracy" (R)

Dec 7            Urban Futures and Planning
                      Ebenezer Howard, pp. 345-353 in The City Reader (B)
                      Le Corbusier, pp. 367-375 in The City Reader (B)
                      Frank Lloyd Wright, pp. 376-381 in The City Reader (B)