The Urban Growth Machine: Critical Perspectives, Two Decades Later (SUNY series in Urban Public Policy)

harvey Molotch's City As A Growth Machine Thesis Is One Of The Most Influential Approaches To The Analysis Of Urban Politics And Local Economic Development In The United States. However, The Nature And Context Of Urban Politics Have Changed Considerably Since The Growth Machine Thesis Was First Proposed More Than Twenty Years Ago, And Recent Attempts To Apply It To Settings Outside The U.s. Have Revealed Conceptual And Empirical Limitations.. This Book Offers A Unique Critical Assessment Of The Contribution Of The Growth Machine Thesis To Research In Urban Political Economy. Written From An Interdisciplinary And International Perspective, It Brings Together Leading Urban Studies Scholars. These Contributors Explore Three Organizing Themes: Urban Growth, Discourse And Ideology; New Dimensions Of Urban Politics; And The Growth Machine In Comparative Perspective. These Themes Not Only Provide The Focus For The Critical Examinations Of The Growth Machine Thesis, But Also Offer Exciting New Ways Of Thinking About And Researching Urban Politics And Local Economic Development. booknews contains Essays From An April 1996 Meeting Of The Association Of American Geographers, Held In Charlotte, North Carolina, In Celebration Of Two Decades Of Research On Harvey Molotch's City As A Growth Machine Thesis. Essays Are In Sections On Urban Growth Ideology And Discourse, New Dimensions Of Urban Politics, And The Growth Machine In Comparative Perspective. Subjects Include Boosterism And The Representation Of Cities, A Feminist Critique Of The Growth Machine Thesis, And Conceptual Issues And Policy Alternatives In The European Union. Includes A Conclusion By Molotch. Joans Is Affiliated With The University Of Hull, Uk, And Uc-riverside. Wilson Is Affiliated With The University Of Illinois-urbana. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com) "Harvey Molotch's "city as a growth machine" thesis is one of the most influential approaches to the analysis of urban politics and local economic development in the United States. However, the nature and context of urban politics have changed considerably since the growth machine thesis was first proposed more than twenty years ago, and recent attempts to apply it to settings outside the U.S. have revealed conceptual and empirical limitations."--BOOK JACKET. "This book offers a unique critical assessment of the contribution of the growth machine thesis to research in urban political economy. Written from an interdisciplinary and international perspective, it brings together leading urban studies scholars. These contributors explore three organizing themes: urban growth, discourse and ideology; new dimensions of urban politics; and the growth machine in comparative perspective. These themes not only provide the focus for the critical examinations of the growth machine thesis, but also offer exciting new ways of thinking about and researching urban politics and local economic development."--BOOK JACKET. Harvey Molotch's "city as a growth machine" thesis is one of the most influential approaches to the analysis of urban politics and local economic development in the United States. However, the nature and context of urban politics have changed considerably since the growth machine thesis was first proposed more than twenty years ago, and recent attempts to apply it to settings outside the U.S. have revealed conceptual and empirical limitations.This book often a unique critical assessment of the contribution of the growth machine thesis to research in urban political economy. Written from an interdisciplinary and international perspective, it brings together leading urban studies scholars. These contributors explore three organizing themes: urban growth, discourse and ideology; new dimensions of urban politics; and the growth machine in comparative perspective. Includes a concluding chapter by Harvey Molotch himself.