Author: Mark Girouard Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 9780300063219 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 380
Book Description
By looking at England's cathedral towns, Regency spas and industrial cities, and at their market squares, docks, council chambers and assembly rooms, the author traces the development of English towns through the centuries.
Author: James Walvin Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1135671079 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 221
Book Description
The years between 1776 and 1851 are of profound importance for the social and urban historian. English town dwellers of the period experienced some fundamental changes in their way of life: rapid population growth; and an unprecedented rate of social change resulting from this. These ever-increasing armies of town dwellers presented the local and central authorities with a myriad of urgent problems, including those of feeding, housing and controlligni a turbulent populace. These years saw the emergence of a new, essentially modern, machinery of control for running an urban society. Despite these dramatic changes an equally important feature of the period was the elements of continuit - in work, family life and leisure. Part one deals with the physical changes, the problems for the town dweller inherant in these, and the distinctions of social class that developed. Part two discusses the political response to the urbanization of England and the problems this caused: poverty and law enforcement. In part three the continuities are assessed: in leisure, rituals and family life. At every opportunity Dr Walvin brings his material to life with his extensive use of contemporary commentaries. In this lively and wide-ranging study, firmly rooted in recent scholarly research, Dr Walvin provides a balanced and up-to-date picture of a society which, although experiencing the most fundamental changes was also characterized by the continuities in its people's habits and social customs. This book was first published in 1984.
Author: Witold Rybczynski Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1476737347 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
In City Life, Witold Rybczynski, bestselling author of Now I Sit Me Down, looks at what we want from cities, how they have evolved, and what accounts for their unique identities. In this vivid description of everything from the early colonial settlements to the advent of the skyscraper to the changes wrought by the automobile, the telephone, the airplane, and telecommuting, Rybczynski reveals how our urban spaces have been shaped by the landscapes and lifestyles of the New World.
Author: Rosemary Sweet Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351872117 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 366
Book Description
Despite the considerable volume of research into various aspects of the social and economic, cultural and political history of eighteenth-century British towns, remarkably little has focused upon, or even reflected upon the distinctive experience of women in the urban context. Much of what research there is has explored the experience of laboring or impoverished women, or women of the social elite; by contrast, the essays in this collection take up the study of the participation of middling women in urban life. This volume brings into sharper focus the relationship between changes consequent upon urban development and shifts in the pattern of gender relations in the 18th century. The contributors address such themes as the extent to which to what extent urban change accelerated a redefinition of gender relations; the connections between urban growth, changing definitions of citizenship, and the emergence of the male gendered political subject; the role of women in a literate, consumer and industrializing society; the place of women's networks in the economic, political and social life of the town and the distinctive role played by women in areas such as philanthropy and business; and how the development of urban society in turn inflected contemporary conceputalizations of gender.
Author: Martin King Whyte Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 0226895491 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 432
Book Description
Through interviews with city residents, Martin King Whyte and William L. Parish provide a unique survey of urban life in the last decade of Mao Zedong's rule. They conclude that changes in society produced under communism were truly revolutionary and that, in the decade under scrutiny, the Chinese avoided ostensibly universal evils of urbanism with considerable success. At the same time, however, they find that this successful effort spawned new and equally serious urban problems—bureaucratic rigidity, low production, and more.
Author: Keith Lilley Publisher: Red Globe Press ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 328
Book Description
What was life like in towns and cities in medieval Europe? How did people live, and why was it that some towns grew into major urban centres while others did not? After the year 1000, all across Europe urban life prospered as it had never done before. New towns emerged, and established towns and cities grew larger and became more powerful and dominant. During the later Middle Ages these towns and cities were the focus of religious, political, commercial and social activity; the places where power, profit, piety and people all came together. Urban life was indeed the making of medieval Europe. Drawing upon original research, as well as the work of medieval historians, urban archaeologists and historical geographers, Keith Lilley explores the close relationship that existed between the life of towns in the Middle Ages and the life within towns. Taking a fresh and challenging approach, this richly-illustrated book will be invaluable to anyone interested in medieval Europe. It focuses on important themes, including lordship, property, and townscape, and explores the processes which not only shaped the towns and cities of medieval Europe, but also the people who lived in them.
Author: Adrian Franklin Publisher: SAGE ISBN: 0857026542 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 258
Book Description
"A brave foray into the interdisciplinary and a serious attempt to cover city life in all its complexity... Franklin′s optimism about the city is refreshing. He revels in the growing human and cultural diversity and the ′re-emergence and spread of a more tolerant, carnivalesque, culture-driven city life′, and he celebrates the city′s ability to offer shelter to the unexpected and the fragile. For Franklin, the city is a product of nature, with all its vicissitudes." - Times Higher Education "Franklin writes with barely restrained optimism as he emphasizes the excitement, vitality and potential of cities. This advances the idea of city lives as assemblages of ‘human and non-human networks of texts, software, culture, behaviour, architecture, trees and gardens’... Franklin uses a wide range of sources in making his case. Historical accounts, search engine statistics and social and cultural theory are all smoothly integrated into the narrative." - Sociology Cities are more important as cultural entities than their mere function as dormitories and industrial sites. Yet, the understanding of what makes a city ′alive′ and appealing in cultural terms is still hotly contested - why are some cities so much more interesting, popular and successful than others? In this engaging discussion of ′city life′ Adrian Franklin takes the reader on a tour of contemporary western cities exploring their historical development and arguing that it is the transformative, ritual and performative qualities of successful cities that makes a difference. Here is a new urban culture characterized by ecological frames of reference; tracking the making of contemporary city life from traditional times, through early modern, machinic and modernised stages of development. Adopting dynamic narrative structures and stories to develop its critical position this book creates a vibrant synthesis of city life from its key components of leisure and tourism, recreation and play, arts and culture, nature and environment, and architecture and public space. Emphasising the importance of experience the book represents the fluid complexity of the city as a living space, an environment and a posthumanist space of transformation. It will be of interest to all those engaging with the difficulties of urban life in sociology, human geography, tourism and cultural studies.
Author: Leonard J. Greenspoon Publisher: Purdue University Press ISBN: 1612499031 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 190
Book Description
Jews and Urban Life recognizes that throughout their long history, Jews have often inhabited cities. The reality of this urban experience ranged from ghetto restrictions to robust participation in a range of civic and social activities. Essays in this collection present relevant examples from within the Jewish community itself, moving historically from the biblical period to the modern-day State of Israel. Taking a comparative approach while recognizing the particulars of individual instances, authors examine these phenomena from a wide variety of approaches, genres, and media. Interdisciplinary and accessibly written, the articles display a multitude of instances throughout history showing the range of Jewish life in urban settings.
Author: Philip Waller Publisher: OUP Oxford ISBN: 0191547298 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 352
Book Description
A volume on the history of the English urban environment that will appeal to both general readers and academic specialists. The emphasis throughout is emphatically that of the historian, rather than the physical geographer: that is, a primary focus on the people who make the landscapes, the changing social structure of the communities, and the different economies which sustained them. The text is enhanced by 130 integrated illustrations, including half-tones and diagrams. The thirteen chapters combine chronological and thematic surveys. After a general introduction by Dr Waller, chapters 2-5 provide overviews of how the urban landscape in England developed during the Roman period, the Early Medieval period, the Medieval period, and the Early Modern Period. The second, larger part of the text offers a variety of thematic approaches to the history of the built environment, with a focus on the last two centuries: metropolitanism, the commercial city, the industrial city, transport, slums and suburbs, recreation, civil and ecclesiastical, and artistic and literary. In addition there are a number of cameo features throughout the text, eg on a small market town, a garden city, a council estate, the Potteries. There is a list of further reading on each chapter.
Author: Katja Werthmann Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1000603008 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 237
Book Description
This book introduces readers to the anthropology of urban life in Africa, showing what ethnography can teach us about African city dwellers’ own notions, practices, and reflections. Social anthropologists have studied city life in Africa since the early 20th century. Their works have addressed a number of questions that are relevant until today: What happens to rural people who move to the city? What kinds of livelihoods do they pursue? How does city life affect moralities and practices connected with gender roles, marriage, parenthood, and intergenerational relations? In which social situations are ethnic and other collective identifications relevant? How do people make a home in the city? What forms of authority and leadership become relevant in urban governance? How do people talk about city life? This book asks what anthropologists have come to learn about Africans’ views on city life. It provides a critical acclaim of ethnographies in English, French, and German and elucidates anthropology’s contribution to understanding city life in Africa. It highlights the significance of female, African and Diaspora scholars for an emerging urban anthropology of Africa. The chapters are organized according to everyday activities of city dwellers: moving, connecting, governing, working, dwelling, and wayfinding. The book will be an essential read for students and researchers of social anthropology, African and urban studies, but also for professionals in research and development organizations, thinktanks, and other institutions concerned with urban Africa.
Author: Mark Girouard
Author: James Walvin
Author: Witold Rybczynski
Author: Rosemary Sweet
Author: Martin King Whyte
Author: Keith Lilley
Author: Adrian Franklin
Author: Leonard J. Greenspoon
Author: Philip Waller
Author: Katja Werthmann