Urban Politics

Mark Davidson is Associate Professor of Geography at Clark University in Massachusetts. Deborah Martin is Professor of Geography at Clark University in Massachusetts.

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

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 '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 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