Cidades, cultura e globalização

In Cidades, cultura e globalização, a book organized by the sociologist Carlos Fortuna, is presented a gaze at the indispensable inter-discursive intersection on the urban and social universe, based on the contribution of countless leading authors in the field.

Part I of this collection – “Metropolis, urbanism and urban life” – includes some essays that most profoundly marked the initial trajectory of urban sociology. The points of contact between the essays written by Georg Simmel and Louis Wirth are contrasted with Walter Benjamin’s text, a precious document from the mid-20th century on how the city of modernity is made up of memories of the past and optimistic beliefs in the future.

Part II – “Globalization and cultural intermediation” – includes three essays on some vectors of recognition of the city and urban culture. In times of globalization, Mike Featherstone’s text intertwines the local with the global and wonders about the meaning of our (post) modern culture. Laura Bovone asks who they are, how they act, and what visions the new agents of cultural intermediation provide, responsible for assigning meanings to urban culture. Alan Warde, in his writing, illustrates, using the field of gastronomy, the relevance of cultural intermediation actions in the combination of imaginary universes with social practices and stylized ways of presenting the body.

Then in part III – “Cities and globalization” – the essays selected bring to the reader six case studies on different cities. What unites them together is the broad conception of urban culture that is gathered from them. Without being subject to detailed analysis, all cases refer to changes in the ways of being and imagining the city in times of globalization of culture, economy, and modes of governance.

 

A Portuguese version is available for download here.

Documentos

ANO

1997

AUTORES

Carlos Fortuna