Addresses issues of current social and theoretical concern such as urban ethnic conflict, multiculturalism and immigration.How do people make sense of their lives amid the social and cultural diversity of cities? The essays in this volume argue that a powerful and related set of methodologies - including comparative research, the ethnography of situations such as dances and parades, and social network analysis - can further our understanding of the intertwined processes of ethnicity and community, class and gender. Written by leading researchers from a number of disciplines, these essays demonstrate a sensitivity to places and contexts ranging from Los Angeles to Queensland. Students of anthropology, geography and urban studies will find this book an invaluable guide to the intricacies of urban social life in the late 20th century.

'Many of the contributions are ... enlightening, capturing a very real sense of the way in which people's interactions consturct their experience of urban settings.'Pamela Shurmer-Smith, University of Portsmouth'The Urban Context is more than just a book, it is a festschrift for the revered urban antrhopologist J Clyde Mitchell. [...] Clyde Mitchell was always proud of his academic progeny and, on the basis of this book, he had every right to be. The essays are varied, stimulating and often at the leading edge of their respective fields. ...highly recommended.'Urban Studies

Alisdair Rogers Keble College and St. Catherine's College,University of Oxford Stephen Vertovec Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick