Urban Ills: Twenty-first-Century Complexities of Urban Living in Global Contexts

by Carol Camp Yeakey (Editor), Vetta L. Sanders Thompson (Editor), Anjanette Wells (Editor)

Overview

Urban Ills: Confronting Twenty First Century Dilemmas of Urban Living in GlobalContexts brings together original research by a wide array of interdisciplinary scholars to examine contemporary dilemmas impacting urban life in global contexts, following the latest global economic downturn. Focusing extensively on vulnerable populations, economic, social, health and community dynamics are explored as they relate to human adaptation to complex environments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739185605
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/15/2015
Edition description:	Volume 1
Pages:	508
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Carol Camp Yeakey is founding director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Urban Studies and its Center on Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. She also holds faculty appointments as professor of education; of international & area studies; of American culture studies; and of urban studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

Vetta Sanders Thompson is associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis where she holds faculty appointments in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work; the Institute of Public Health; and Urban Studies.

Anjanette Wells is assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis’ George Warren Brown School of Social Work with faculty appointments in the Institute of Public Health, and Urban Studies.

Table of Contents

Dedication Page
Preface
Introduction
Section One: Economic Impact on Urban Life
Chapter One: “’Running in Place:’ Low Wage Work in a High Tech Economy”
Chapter Two: “Social Closure or Financialization: Stratification and Race in the Service Economy”
Chapter Three: “To Heat or to Eat: The Detrimental Effects of Competing Commodity Costs on Low Income Families”
Chapter Four: “Home Ownership among the Low Income in Boston, Massachusetts”
Chapter Five: “Coming and Going: Effects of Change in Household Composition on the Economic Wellbeing of Families with Children”
Chapter Six: “Predictability, Flexibility, Stability: Economic Restructuring and Low Wage ‘Women’s Work’”
Chapter Seven: “Surprising Diversity in Financial Stability: A Cluster Analysis of Center for Working Families Clients in Twelve (12) Low Income Chicago Communities”
Section Two: Social Realities of Urban Living
Chapter Eight: “Where Did My Neighbors Go? Revealing Geographies of Post-
Chapter Nine: “How Urban Shrinkage Impacts on Patterns of Socio-Spatial Segregation: Insights from Case Studies in Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic”
Chapter Ten: “Is the Grass Any Greener on the Other Side of the Projects? Public Housing Relocation and Resident Outcomes in Atlanta, Georgia”
Chapter Eleven: Revisiting the U.S. Black and French Red Belts: Parallel Themes and a Shared Dilemma”
Chapter Twelve: “Poverty and Education”
Chapter Thirteen: “The Development of Coping Skills for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Students: Transitioning from Minority to Majority Environments”
Chapter Fourteen: “Human Trafficking in the U.S.: Globalization’s Impact on Dispossessed, Dominated and Discarded Populations”
Chapter Fifteen: “The Third World Near You: The American Racial Divide”

Editorial Reviews

Hurricane Katrina, mortgage foreclosures, racism, human trafficking, mass transit, HIV AIDS, gentrification, failing schools, and chronic unemployment are used to weave a complex, revealing tapestry that lays bare the ills of contemporary urbanization. We see "Tales of Two Cities"—with the best and worst of times—repeated around the globe in the vast economic, social, and health disparities that separate rich from poor. A thoughtful, revealing study of how context, culture, and history combine to shape life chances in 21st century cities. Urban Ills: Twenty First Century Complexities of Urban Living in Global Contexts is destined to become a classic.

From the Publisher

The chapters cover all of the 'social problems' that impact urban life, from housing shortages (chapter 4) to immigrant integration in suburbs (chapter 25) to gentrification (chapter 10) to the decline in public schools (chapter 12). There is even a chapter on human trafficking (chapter 14). The editors include a study of post-Hurricane Katrina Lower Ninth Ward problems for low-income residents in New Orleans (chapter 29).. . .This social problems approach connected to the editors' interest in social justice drives this wide-ranging two volumes of mostly academic research on the ups and downs of the 20th-century urban U.S.. . .Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students in sociology and business; professional urban planners interested in understanding a wide array of urban social ills.

Choice Reviews

Poverty and inequality are areas sociology scholars have examined for generations, but these areas are still relatively unexplored by psychologists. These two volumes [Urban Ills Volume 1 and 2] are critical texts to help psychologists better situate individual psychological outcomes within micro and macro ecologies. Urban Ills clearly captures and describes the impact of economic globalization that benefits few but have consequences for many.. . .These two volumes provide readers with a context with which to understand and conceptualize the impact of urbanization within a global context. Globalization is sometimes solely equated with expanded opportunities and wealth, but in these two volumes, the authors puncture this myth: Globalization also means increased inequality, poverty, and marginalization. What the reader comes away with is a new appreciation for the complex relationship between these two perspectives, which is essentially the conundrum of global capitalism.

PsycCRITIQUES

Hurricane Katrina, mortgage foreclosures, racism, human trafficking, mass transit, HIV AIDS, gentrification, failing schools, and chronic unemployment are used to weave a complex, revealing tapestry that lays bare the ills of contemporary urbanization. We see 'Tales of Two Cities'—with the best and worst of times—repeated around the globe in the vast economic, social, and health disparities that separate rich from poor. A thoughtful, revealing study of how context, culture, and history combine to shape life chances in 21st century cities. Urban Ills: Twenty First Century Complexities of Urban Living in Global Contexts is destined to become a classic.

Walter R. Allen

The chapters cover all of the 'social problems' that impact urban life, from housing shortages (chapter 4) to immigrant integration in suburbs (chapter 25) to gentrification (chapter 10) to the decline in public schools (chapter 12). There is even a chapter on human trafficking (chapter 14). The editors include a study of post-Hurricane Katrina Lower Ninth Ward problems for low-income residents in New Orleans (chapter 29).. . .This social problems approach connected to the editors' interest in social justice drives this wide-ranging two volumes of mostly academic research on the ups and downs of the 20th-century urban U.S.. . .Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students in sociology and business; professional urban planners interested in understanding a wide array of urban social ills.

Choice

The chapters cover all of the 'social problems' that impact urban life, from housing shortages (chapter 4) to immigrant integration in suburbs (chapter 25) to gentrification (chapter 10) to the decline in public schools (chapter 12). There is even a chapter on human trafficking (chapter 14). The editors include a study of post-Hurricane Katrina Lower Ninth Ward problems for low-income residents in New Orleans (chapter 29).. . .This social problems approach connected to the editors' interest in social justice drives this wide-ranging two volumes of mostly academic research on the ups and downs of the 20th-century urban U.S.. . .Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students in sociology and business; professional urban planners interested in understanding a wide array of urban social ills.

CHOICE

Urban Ills takes a very effective multidisciplinary approach including the utilization of theories from economics, sociology, psychology, education, health/medicine, public policy, and other disciplines. Similarly, the research methods used by authors include everything from reviews of the literature to case studies to empirical research. The result is a very important collection of chapters that will have appeal to a wide variety of readers. Academics and policy makersinterested in urban issues will find this book useful.

Eddie M. Clark