Being Urban: A Sociology of City Life

This third edition of a classic urban sociology text examines critical but oftenneglected aspects of urban life from a socialpsychological theoretical perspective.Symbolic interaction is among the most central theoretical paradigms in sociology and the theory that most thoroughly attends to how individuals give meaning to their worldin this case, how city dwellers interpret and respond to their daily experiences as urbanites. This thoroughly updated edition of Being Urban: A Sociology of City Life remains true to this particular theoretical angle of visionthe symbolic interactionist approachfocusing on specific topics that are relatively neglected in other urban sociology texts, and that lend themselves to the kind of socialpsychological analyses that define the distinctive conceptual core of the authors efforts.After the first two chapters supply readers with theoretical foundations of urban sociology, the next four chapters describe the various ways that individuals experience and make sense of key aspects of urban life. The final sectionalso composed of four chaptersaddresses strategically chosen urban institutions and related processes of social change. Specific subject areas covered include sports, everyday public life, tolerance for diversity, women in cities, urban politics, and the arts. Readers will learn about how order is maintained in public urban places, understand why cities naturally breed a tolerance for diversity that may not be so easily achieved in less urban settings, and appreciate the delicate political and economic tensions between cities and their surrounding suburbs.