Great American City
Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect
Robert J. Sampson
- This
- “landmark
- work
- in
- urban
- sociology”
- examines
- the
- influence
- of
- neighborhoods
- on
- social
- phenomena
- and
- in
- our
- lives
- (Claude
- Fischer,
- City
- &
- Community).For
- over
- fifty
- years
- numerous
- public
- intellectuals
- and
- social
- theorists
- have
- insisted
- that
- community
- is
- dead.
- Some
- would
- have
- us
- believe
- that
- we
- act
- solely
- as
- individuals
- choosing
- our
- own
- fates
- regardless
- of
- our
- surroundings,
- while
- other
- theories
- place
- us
- at
- the
- mercy
- of
- global
- forces
- beyond
- our
- control.
- These
- two
- perspectives
- dominate
- contemporary
- views
- of
- society,
- but
- by
- rejecting
- the
- importance
- of
- place
- they
- are
- both
- deeply
- flawed.
- Based
- on
- one
- of
- the
- most
- ambitious
- studies
- in
- the
- history
- of
- social
- science,
- Great
- American
- City
- argues
- that
- communities
- still
- matter
- because
- life
- is
- decisively
- shaped
- by
- where
- you
- live.To
- demonstrate
- the
- powerfully
- enduring
- impact
- of
- place,
- Robert
- J.
- Sampson
- presents
- here
- the
- fruits
- of
- over
- a
- decade’s
- research
- in
- Chicago
- combined
- with
- his
- own
- unique
- personal
- observations
- about
- life
- in
- the
- city,
- from
- Cabrini
- Green
- to
- Trump
- Tower
- and
- Millennium
- Park
- to
- the
- Robert
- Taylor
- Homes.
- He
- discovers
- that
- neighborhoods
- influence
- a
- remarkably
- wide
- variety
- of
- social
- phenomena,
- including
- crime,
- health,
- civic
- engagement,
- home
- foreclosures,
- teen
- births,
- altruism,
- leadership
- networks,
- and
- immigration.
- Even
- national
- crises
- cannot
- halt
- the
- impact
- of
- place,
- Sampson
- finds,
- as
- he
- analyzes
- the
- consequences
- of
- the
- Great
- Recession
- and
- its
- aftermath,
- bringing
- his
- magisterial
- study
- up
- to
- the
- fall
- of
- 2010.Following
- in
- the
- influential
- tradition
- of
- the
- Chicago
- School
- of
- urban
- studies
- but
- updated
- for
- the
- twenty-first
- century,
- Great
- American
- City
- is
- at
- once
- a
- landmark
- research
- project,
- a
- commanding
- argument
- for
- a
- new
- theory
- of
- social
- life,
- and
- the
- story
- of
- an
- iconic
- city.Praise
- for
- Great
- American
- City“After
- Great
- American
- City
- we
- will
- never
- be
- able
- to
- view
- cities
- in
- the
- same
- way
- again.
- This
- is
- one
- of
- those
- rare
- books
- that
- deeply
- affect
- how
- we
- think
- about
- the
- world.
- It
- teaches
- us
- afresh
- how
- the
- neighborhoods
- we
- live
- in
- affect
- us
- and
- the
- people
- around
- us.
- And
- there
- are
- also
- immense
- policy
- implications.
- Robert
- Sampson
- shows
- definitively
- how
- the
- fate
- of
- the
- urban
- poor
- is
- so
- very
- dependent
- on
- the
- communities
- in
- which
- they
- live.”
- —George
- Akerlof,
- Nobel
- Laureate
- in
- Economics,
- University
- of
- California
- at
- Berkeley“Great
- American
- City
- takes
- us
- from
- the
- grand
- theories
- conjured
- by
- its
- commanding
- title,
- down
- to
- the
- iconic
- street
- corner
- to
- see
- what
- it
- really
- means
- when
- windows
- are
- broken.
- This
- is
- a
- book
- of
- big,
- challenging,
- provocative,
- and
- inspiring
- ideas,
- as
- well
- as
- of
- meticulous,
- rigorous,
- and
- exhaustive
- data.
- Sampson
- has
- truly
- shown
- his
- shoulders
- big
- enough
- to
- be
- counted
- among
- Chicago’s
- most
- venerated
- social
- observers,
- as
- well
- as
- the
- most
- astute
- theorists
- of
- place.”
- —Mary
- Pattillo,
- Northwestern University
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