Anthropologies of urbanization: New spatial politics and imaginaries

The articles in this volume explore contemporary urbanization in a variety of contexts, with a particular focus on issues of scale and on understanding cities as embedded in broader social relations. From New York City to Los Angeles, from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the state of Indiana, we see new spatial, social, and cultural forms emerge and interact, often in unexpected ways. Despite their diversity, these articles are linked together by three common themes: competition, privatization, and politics. Through anthropological analysis of these themes, along with close attention to the changing nature of space, place, and scale, these articles demonstrate the value of an urban anthropology that focuses not just on the city, but on the dynamic process of urbanization.