The world of modern capitalism is a global network both of corporations and of cities - 'world command cities' such as New York, London and Tokyo; 'specialized command cities' which concentrate on particular industries, such as Detroit; 'state command cities' such as Washington and Brasilia; and so on. These cities, linked by an organizational web of transnational corporations, are the pins holding the capitalist world economy together in the new international division of labour. 
In The Capitalist City a group of eminent scholars analyzes the intricate relationships among cities, state policies and urban politics at a time of economic restructuring at global, national and local levels to provide an original and timely contribution to one of the most important areas of political and social science.

Capitalist City

Business & Money

Feagin, Joe

Smith, Michael Peter

Economics

Wiley/Blackwell

Transnational Urbanism: Locating Globalization

Transnational Urbanism is a profound work of theoretical synthesis by internationally renowned urban theorist Michael Peter Smith. Moving deftly across disciplines and discursive terrains, Smith forges original and stimulating connections between urban studies and the emerging field of transnational studies. With original and extraordinary insight, he addresses the central question of how and why immigrants, refugees, political activists, and institutions locate and maintain social relations in light of transnational urbanism. <ul> <li>Brings a concrete, historically informed discussion of globalization and transnationalism applied to urban studies. 
</li> <li>Offers a blueprint for reconstructing urban theory itself . 
</li> <li>Forges stimulating connections between the field of urban studies and the emerging field of transnational studies .</li> </ul>

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

This compendium offers a textured historical and compara- tive examination of the significance of locality or "place," and the role of urban representations and spatial practices in defining national identities. Drawing upon a wide range of disciplines-from literature to architecture and planning, sociology, and history -these essays problematize the dynamic between the local and the national, the cultural and the material, revealing the complex interplay of social forces by which place is constituted and contributes to the social construction of national identity in Asia, Latin America, and the United States. These essays explore the dialogue between past and present, local and national identities in the making of "modern" places. Contributions range from an assessment of historical discourses on the relationship between modernity and heritage in turn-of-the-century Suzhou to the social construction of San Antonio's Market Square as a contested presencing of the city's Mexican past. Case studies of the socio-spatial restructuring of Penang and Jakarta show how place-making from above by modernizing states is articulated with a claims-making politics of class and ethnic difference from below. An examination of nineteenth-century Central America reveals a case of local grassroots formation not only of national identity but national institutions. Finally, a close examination of Latin American literature at the end of the nineteenth century reveals the importance of a fantastic reversal of Balzac's dystopian vision of Parisian cosmopolitanism in defining the place of Latin America and the possibilities of importing urban modernity. Michael Peter Smith is professor of community studies at the University of California at Davis and a faculty associate of the Center for California Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. An urban social theorist, he has published numerous books on cities, globalization, and transnationalism, including The City and Social Theory; The Capitalist City; City, State and Market; Transnationalism from Below; and, most recently, Transnational Urbanism: Locating Globalization. Thomas Bender is professor of history and director of the Project on Cities and Urban Knowledge and the International Center for Advanced Studies at New York University. His books include Toward an Urban Vision; Community and Social Change in America; New York Intellect; and (with Carl Schorske) Budapest and New York. He is editor of the forthcoming book Rethinking American History in a Global Age.

City and Nation: Rethinking Place and Identity (Comparative Urban and Community Research)

Bender, Thomas

Routledge

Michael Peter Smith and Matt Bakker spent five years carrying out ethnographic field research in multiple communities in the Mexican states of Zacatecas and Guanajuato and various cities in California, particularly metropolitan Los Angeles. Combining the information they gathered there with political-economic and institutional analysis, the five extended case studies in Citizenship across Borders offer a new way of looking at the emergent dynamics of transnational community development and electoral politics on both sides of the border.Smith and Bakker highlight the continuing significance of territorial identifications and state policies―particularly those of the sending state―in cultivating and sustaining transnational connections and practices. In so doing, they contextualize and make sense of the complex interplay of identity and loyalty in the lives of transnational migrant activists. In contrast to high-profile warnings of the dangers to national cultures and political institutions brought about by long-distance nationalism and dual citizenship, Citizenship across Borders demonstrates that, far from undermining loyalty and diminishing engagement in U.S. political life, the practice of dual citizenship by Mexican migrants actually provides a sense of empowerment that fosters migrants' active civic engagement in American as well as Mexican politics.

Citizenship across Borders: The Political Transnationalism of El Migrante

History

Bakker, Matt

Americas

Cornell University Press

Michael Peter Smith and Matt Bakker spent five years carrying out ethnographic field research in multiple communities in the Mexican states of Zacatecas and Guanajuato and various cities in California, particularly metropolitan Los Angeles. Combining the information they gathered there with political-economic and institutional analysis, the five extended case studies in Citizenship across Borders offer a new way of looking at the emergent dynamics of transnational community development and electoral politics on both sides of the border. Smith and Bakker highlight the continuing significance of territorial identifications and state policies―particularly those of the sending state―in cultivating and sustaining transnational connections and practices. In so doing, they contextualize and make sense of the complex interplay of identity and loyalty in the lives of transnational migrant activists. 
In contrast to high-profile warnings of the dangers to national cultures and political institutions brought about by long-distance nationalism and dual citizenship, Citizenship across Borders demonstrates that, far from undermining loyalty and diminishing engagement in U.S. political life, the practice of dual citizenship by Mexican migrants actually provides a sense of empowerment that fosters migrants' active civic engagement in American as well as Mexican politics.

Pacific Rim Cities in the World Economy (COMPARATIVE URBAN AND COMMUNITY RESEARCH)

Breaking Chains: Social Movements and Collective Action (Comparative Urban and Community Research)

Explorations in Urban Theory

For over three decades, urban theorist Michael Peter Smith has engaged in constructing innovative theories on central research questions in urban studies. This book brings together his views on the state of urban theory, sorting out the changing strengths and weaknesses in the field.  Smith refocuses attention on the cultural, social, and political practices of urban inhabitants, particularly the way in which their everyday activities have contributed to the social construction of new ethnic identities and new meanings of urban citizenship. Combining the methods of political economy and transnational ethnography, he encourages us to think about new political spaces for practicing "urban citizenship" by analyzing the connections linking cities to the web of relations to other localities in which they are embedded.  Smith systematically analyzes the dynamics of "community power" and "urban change" under new globalizing trends and increased transnational mobility. Expanding on his original conceptualization of "transnational urbanism," he frames urban political life within a wider transnational context of political practice, in which an endless interplay of distinctly situated networks, social practices, and power relations are fought out at multiple scales, in an inexorable politics of inclusion and exclusion.

Sociology

Marginal Spaces: Ser Volume 5

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Books by Smith, Michael Peter