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Book Review: Touring Poverty

Book Review: Touring Poverty Book Reviews THE GREAT INVERSION AND THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN CITY, by Alan Ehrenhalt.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, 278 pp. ISBN: 978-0-307-27274-4 ($26.95 Cloth). Reviewed by Zachary Neal Michigan State University Much of urban sociology has been devoted to understanding the demographic structure and organization of cities. The concentric ring model, which placed factories and the poor at the center and more affluent residents at the edge, in many ways no longer accu- rately describes modern cities, and indeed some would argue never did. Often framed as a project of dismantling the Chicago School hegemony, many have proposed alternative models, for example the LA School’s contention that cities follow a more haphazard and patchwork pattern. In The Great Inversion, a book-length version of his 2008 New Republic article entitled “Trading Places,” Alan Ehrenhalt joins this debate, arguing that although a concentric ring pattern persists in American cities, it has been turned inside out. De- scribing the process as a “demographic inversion,” he contends that the suburbs, once the domain of affluent whites, are now (or quickly becoming) populated predominantly by immigrants, minorities, and the poor. At the same time, the central city has become a highly desirable http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png City and Community SAGE

Book Review: Touring Poverty

Ren, Xuefei
City and Community , Volume 12 (3): 1 – Sep 1, 2013
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References (1)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 2013 American Sociological Association
ISSN
1535-6841
eISSN
1540-6040
DOI
10.1111/cico.12033
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book Reviews THE GREAT INVERSION AND THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN CITY, by Alan Ehrenhalt.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, 278 pp. ISBN: 978-0-307-27274-4 ($26.95 Cloth). Reviewed by Zachary Neal Michigan State University Much of urban sociology has been devoted to understanding the demographic structure and organization of cities. The concentric ring model, which placed factories and the poor at the center and more affluent residents at the edge, in many ways no longer accu- rately describes modern cities, and indeed some would argue never did. Often framed as a project of dismantling the Chicago School hegemony, many have proposed alternative models, for example the LA School’s contention that cities follow a more haphazard and patchwork pattern. In The Great Inversion, a book-length version of his 2008 New Republic article entitled “Trading Places,” Alan Ehrenhalt joins this debate, arguing that although a concentric ring pattern persists in American cities, it has been turned inside out. De- scribing the process as a “demographic inversion,” he contends that the suburbs, once the domain of affluent whites, are now (or quickly becoming) populated predominantly by immigrants, minorities, and the poor. At the same time, the central city has become a highly desirable

Journal

City and Community – SAGE

Published: Sep 1, 2013

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