Classic Perspectives on City Life - Sociology of the City - Lecture Slides, Slides of Sociology

Download Classic Perspectives on City Life - Sociology of the City - Lecture Slides and more Slides Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! Sociology of the City Urbanism 1 Classic Perspectives on City Life docsity.com Community • Participants in regular social interaction • Shared social bond • Shared identity • Communal territory • Strong emotional attachment to the group and space docsity.com Louis Wirth ‘Urbanism as a Way of Life’ (1938) • Member of Chicago School – greatly influenced by Simmel • 3 Key Dimensions of Urban Way of Life: • Size – greater chances for diversity – greater specialisation & division of labour = functional diversity – competition and formal control replace kinship as a means of organisation - provides conditions for social fragmentation and foundations for impersonal relationships - • Density – intensifies effects of size –– blasé attitude (excessive nervous stimulation) - greater tolerance and greater social distance/stress – escape form density increases fringe development – density increases competition • Heterogeneity – more tolerance between groups – breaks down ethnic and class barriers – compartmentalisation, anonymity and depersonalisation. • Social Relations: Primary, Secondary & Tertiary docsity.com • Negative Consequences of Urban Living: social disorganisation • Isolation and instability may lead to social disorder • Mental illness and suicide more likely • Potential for Crime • Loss of community/estrangement facilitates media and political manipulation Louis Wirth ‘Urbanism as a Way of Life’ docsity.com Herbert Gans ‘The Urban Villagers’(1962) • Critique of Wirth’s perspective • 1) Isolation not necessarily a product of city life – ignores the fact that city life encompasses a broad range of social groups from the isolated to the relatively homogenous community, dependent on a range of factors • 2) Overplays Urban/Rural distinction (‘urban villagers’) • 3) Not single urban culture but collectivity of ‘sub-cultures docsity.com The Suburban Way of Life • Interpersonal and communal relationships - but of a limited nature • The Mall/Shopping Centre as the locus of ‘quasi- community’ • The Lonely Crowd (Riesman) Tribal Conformity • Little sub-cultural differentiation • Suburban ‘angst’ as the parallel of isolation docsity.com Robert Putnam ‘Bowling Alone’ (2000) • Social Capital: • Information flows depend on social capital • Norms of (generalised) reciprocity are dependent on social networks. • Bonding networks - connect those who are similar. • Bridging networks - that connect individuals who are diverse. • Collective action depends upon social networks • Collective action can also foster new networks. • Broader identities and solidarity are encouraged by social networks that help translate an "I" mentality into a "we" mentality. docsity.com Bowling Alone • (Contemporary decline in social capital -Mirrors similar process during ‘Gilded Age’ of industrial revolution (USA)) • Correlates of Social Capital: • Political Participation • Civic Engagement • Religious Participation • The Workplace docsity.com