Wiley-Blackwell The Social Control of Cities?: A Comparative Perspective (Studies in Urban and Social Change)

In this ground-breaking study, Sophie Body-Gendrot provides a comparative analysis of the growing problem of new forms of poverty and social marginalization in contemporary advanced societies. Focusing on concrete local and urban settings in the US, UK and France, the book examines relationships between national elites, including their policy rhetorics, and the "marginalized" or powerless urban populations most affected by economic restructuring. The text is informed by extensive fieldwork, including interviews with mayors, judges, police officers, community leaders and grass-roots organizations, unveiling insights into such timely questions as: How will social control be maintained variously in these settings? Will the established order break down in violence and rebellion? How acute is the crisis of social integration and control? The Social Control of Cities draws from a wide range of disciplines, including political sociology and history, and links urban studies to broader questions regarding the criminology of exclusion. Review "This book is extremely important for anyone interested in crime and violence in urban areas. The author situates urban violence and responses to it within the larger processes of globalization and of growth of inequalitites within and between societies. By using case studies of different cities in different countries--US, Britain, and Frnace--she examines the impact of global, national, and local policies and economic trends on various cities' responses to crime and violence." Choice "This is a well-documented and perceptive study." David Downes, London School of Economics, UK ..". does a creditable job of demonstrating both historically and comparatively, how cities within the limits of distinct national traditions are actually extraordinarily diverse and yet extremely limited in the ways they manage social control." Canadian Journal of Sociology Online 'This comprehensive cross-cultural study of urban tensions and insecurities in an era of globalization is a major contribution to the literature on changing western cities. Sophie Body-Gendrot's original synthesis of a wide range of urban studies provides new insights on the dynamic changes in modern urban life." - William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University Synopsis In this ground-breaking study, Sophie Body-Gendrot provides a comparative analysis of the growing problem of new forms of poverty and social marginalization in contemporary advanced societies. Focusing on concrete local and urban settings in the US, UK and France, the book examines relationships between national elites, including their policy rhetorics, and the "marginalized" or powerless urban populations most affected by economic restructuring. The text is informed by extensive fieldwork, including interviews with mayors, judges, police officers, community leaders and grass-roots organizations, unveiling insights into such timely questions as: How will social control be maintained variously in these settings? Will the established order break down in violence and rebellion? How acute is the crisis of social integration and control? The Social Control of Cities draws from a wide range of disciplines, including political sociology and history, and links urban studies to broader questions regarding the criminology of exclusion. From the Back Cover In this ground-breaking study, Sophie Body-Gendrot provides a comparative analysis of new types of welfare and social maintenance policies of states and o cities in charge of strategic functions in the global economy. Focusing on concrete urban settings in the USA and in France, the book examines the relationship between national and local decision-makers, including their policy rhetorics meant to check moral panics over juvenile crime and violent events. Beyond such institutional responses, it examines the production of alternative norms and of new forms of po