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Urban Politics
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Urban Politics
Critical Approaches

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December 2013 | 256 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

"Offers a much needed update on urban politics in a globalized world... Davidson and Martin, as well as contributors, chart new territory and produce thought-provoking research that move the field in a more critical direction"
- Setha M. Low, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

"A critical analysis of power and politics is essential to an understanding of contemporary urbanism.  Informative and challenging, clear and sophisticated, Urban Politics: Critical Approaches encourages readers to grapple with the great diversity of analytical lenses that frame urban political research through detailed, engaging case studies"
- Eugene McCann, Simon Fraser University

This critical, thought provoking discussion of contemporary urban politics places key issues in a geographical context. Divided into three sections:
  • The urban as political setting
  • The urban as political medium
  • The urban as political community

The text provides a thorough theoretical grounding with an extensive thematic overview. This unique approach links classical, institutional urban politics with a broader set of urban politics and practices.

With case study material integrated throughout, and consideration given to the discussion of different urban politics from multiple theoretical perspectives, this is a completely up to date overview for students of urban geography, urban studies, urban sociology, and of course, urban politics.

Mark Davidson and Deborah Martin
Thinking Critically about Urban Politics
 
PART ONE: CITY AS SETTING
Katherine Hankins and Deborah Martin
The Neighbourhood as a Place for (Urban) Politics
Kevin Ward
Splintered Governance: Urban Politics in the Twenty First Century
Elvin Wyly and Kathe Newman
Ruthless: The Foreclosure of American Urban Politics
 
PART TWO: CITY AS MEDIUM
Kurt Iveson
Policing the City
Donald McNeill
Mayors and the Representation of Urban Politics
John Carr
Making Urban Politics Go Away: The Role of Legally Mandated Planning Processes in Occluding City Power
 
PART THREE: CITY AS COMMUNITY
Natalie Oswin
Queering the City: Sexual Citizenship in Creative City Singapore
Jamie Winders
Making Space in the Multicultural City: Immigrant Settlements, Neighbourhoods and Urban Politics
Susan Hanson
The Embedded Politics of Entrepreneurs
Mark Davidson
Is Class Relevant to Urban Politics?
Matthew Huber
The Urban Imaginary of Nature: Cities in American Environmental Politics
Deborah Martin and Mark Davidson
Urban Politics as Parallax

This innovative volume offers a much needed update on urban politics in a globalized world. The path-breaking introduction by Davidson and Martin unpacks this complex domain by framing urban politics in three ways: occurring within the city, as a setting for other urban processes, and as a medium for contestation and resolution.  Within each section the contributors trouble these categories and demonstrate how the reach of urban politics exceeds the city through technological, social, cultural and political economy avenues of transition and mobility. Drawing upon Ranciere’s distinction between policing and politics as a fruitful avenue for identifying politics that promote social change rather than enforce social norms, Davidson and Martin, as well as contributors, chart new territory and produce thought-provoking research that move the field in a more critical direction.

Setha M. Low
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

'A critical analysis of power and politics is essential to an understanding of contemporary urbanism. Informative and challenging, clear and sophisticated, Urban Politics: Critical Approaches encourages readers to grapple with the great diversity of analytical lenses that frame urban political research through detailed, engaging case studies. It provides an introduction to cutting-edge research that will be valued both by those new to the field and those intent on keeping up with its current debates.'

Eugene McCann
Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University

The collection is quite approachable, and will analytically inform relevant topical discussions in contemporary urban studies and offer extra readings throughout its pages to help ground its contentions. It is particularly apt for those interested in advancing their understanding of the complex realm of relational place-making. The purpose of this book, then, is to advance a multidimensional analysis of urban political processes today. 

Stephen Przybylinski, Portland State University, USA
Urban Studies

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Paperback
ISBN: 9780857023988
£36.99

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ISBN: 9780857023971
£122.00

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