The Social Control of Cities?

In this ground-breaking study, Sophie Body-Gendrot provides a comparative analysis of the growing problem of new forms of poverty and social marginalization in contemporary advanced societies. Focusing on concrete local and urban settings in the US, UK and France, the book examines relationships between national elites, including their policy rhetorics, and the "marginalized" or powerless urban populations most affected by economic restructuring. The text is informed by extensive fieldwork, including interviews with mayors, judges, police officers, community leaders and grass-roots organizations, unveiling insights into such timely questions as: How will social control be maintained variously in these settings? Will the established order break down in violence and rebellion? How acute is the crisis of social integration and control? The Social Control of Cities draws from a wide range of disciplines, including political sociology and history, and links urban studies to broader questions regarding the criminology of exclusion.