Making a Place for Community: Local Democracy in a Global Era - Hardcover

Williamson, Thad; Imbroscio, David; Alperovitz, Gar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415933560 ISBN 13: 9780415933568

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

When pundits refer to the death of community, they are speaking of a number of social ills, which include, but are not limited to, the general increase in isolation and cynicism of our citizens, widespread concerns about declining political participation and membership in civic organizations, and periodic outbursts of small town violence. Making a Place for Community argues that this death of community is being caused by contemporary policies that, if not changed, will continue to foster the decline of community. Increased capital flow between nations is not at the root of the problem, however, increased capital flow within our nation is. Small towns shouldn't have to hope for a prison to open nearby and downtown centers shouldn't sit empty as suburban sparwl encroaches, but they do and it's a result of widely agreed upon public policies.

About this title

About the Author

Gar Alperovitz, the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, has a leading voice in the communitarian movement for 30 years. His book, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb is the definitive history of the subject. He serves on the editorial board of Tikkun, and his articles appear frequently in The Nation, The Boston Review and TheWashington Post. Thad Williamson is a researcher at Harvard University. He has written for The Nation, InThese Times and Monthly Review. David L. Imbroscio is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville.

Reviews

One of the basic tensions within capitalism, argue the three political scientist authors, is between the desire "to preserve, sustain, and strengthen geographically defined communities over time" and the opposing, usually economic, idea that "public policy should seek to facilitate individual and business mobility, no matter what the costs." They pinpoint three "threats" that towns and cities face: the increase in globalization and free trade, the instability of securing and keeping jobs in a specific locality, and the rapid increase of urban sprawl. While filled with copious facts, data and economic theory, the book never loses sight of, and is driven by, its deeply humanitarian purpose-"the principle of nurturing just, sustainable, and secure communities" both in the U.S. and abroad. Holding to that principle requires, the authors argue, radically revising a foundation of contemporary economic thinking-that business interests necessarily will eventually serve humanitarian ones. (Sept. 16)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415933560
• ISBN 13: 9780415933568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 430