In their introduction, Diamond and Sugrue describe two strands of recent urban scholarship—“one centered in social theory and geography, the second in history and urban sociology” (1). Noting gaps in the analysis offered by these respective approaches—the first “lacking the specificity and attention to context and chronology that characterizes historical scholarship” and the second having often “ignored the vast body of work on neoliberalism”—Diamond and Sugrue present this volume as a corrective (2). In the seven chapters constituting the book’s core, the contributors aim to provide detailed local portraits informed by an appreciation of the theoretical insights and global orientation offered by neoliberal scholarship.
The chapters in Neoliberal Cities are a mixed bag, addressing a disparate group of particular topics, including popular resistance to fiscal retrenchment (New York in the 1970s), race and mass incarceration (Los Angeles over several decades), gentrification (contemporary Boston), and African-American political participation (Cleveland, again over...