Urban and Inner City Studies

After a generation of pathbreaking scholarship that has reoriented and enlightened our perception of the American city, the two volumes of the Encyclopedia of American Urban History offer both a summary and an interpretation of the field. With contributions from leading academics in their fields, this authoritative resource offers an interdisciplinary approach by covering topics from economics, geography, anthropology, politics, and sociology.

From Amazon: "The encyclopedia covers communities of the past and present, from 19th century utopians, to the communes of the 1960's, to today's Rotary Club, Amish, and cyber communities. Developed by award winning editors Karen Christensen and David Levinson with a board of leading scholars, the Encyclopedia of Community is essential for history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and public administration students and the interested public, who will turn to the encyclopedia for inspiration and illumination, stories and strategies."

The Encyclopedia of Homelessness is the first systematic effort to organize and summarize what we know about this complex topic which impacts not only the homeless but all of society. The Encyclopedia focuses on the current situation in the United States, with a comparative sampling of homelessness around the world.

"... focuses on the key topics encountered by undergraduates and scholars in urban studies and allied fields. [...] A solid but also provocative starting point for wider exploration of the city, this is a first-class work of reference that will be an essential resource for independent study as well as a useful aid in teaching." (publisher's description)

"These two volumes address the specific theories, key studies, and important figures that have influenced not just the individual discipline but also the field of urban studies more generally." (publisher's description)

"... provides an overview of the key concepts that urban planners, policy makers, architects, engineers, and developers use to understand the sustainability dimensions of the urban environment."

The Handbook of Urban Studies provides the first comprehensive, up-to-date account of the urban condition, relevant to a wide readership from academics to researchers and policymakers.

The Community Development Reader is the first comprehensive reader addressing community development. Community development has become a significant component of urban political economies in the past thirty years. This Reader is an ambitious volume bringing together history, theory and power dynamics. It does not just promote the model of community development but also addresses the messiness of community development.

From Amazon: "Volume I (‘Philosophy and the History of Race, Race in the History of Philosophy’) brings together the key texts to have shaped the most widely recognized forms of ‘race thinking’. The second and third volumes...explore the questions that race raises in philosophy’s traditional subfields. The final volume ...assembles the most important work to grapple with the methodological and geographical complications that accompany a commitment to racialism."