Contested Cities: Social Change, State Action and International Intervention

Abstract

Cities are frequently seen as centres of civilisation, as the cutting edge of human achievement, as cosmopolitan sites where new identities may develop and flourish. In this view, traditional barriers such as ethnic difference are eroded through proximity of living and working. But writers over the past two centuries have been just as likely to characterise modern cities as heterogeneous gatherings composed of communities which regard themselves, or are regarded by others, as distinct in terms of language, religious belief, skin colour or culture. From this perspective the question becomes ‘how have cities sought to mitigate this potential for conflict?’. The rapidly-growing British industrial cities of the nineteenth century, for instance, recruited the bulk of their populations from nearby hinterlands, so that while the challenges of acculturation to urban living and the discipline of the factory may have been great, the challenge of acculturation to new neighbours was substantially reduced. In the first phase or mass urbanisation in Britain, for instance, only the Irish came from further afield.KeywordsNineteenth CenturyJewish CommunityLabour MovementLanguage ShiftEthnic BoundaryThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.