The City as Sociological Category

Sociological theories that see the city as either a dependent, contextual or independent variable are reviewed. M. Weber & K. Marx viewed the city as dependent on a complex network of historical factors. F. Engels, in The Condition of the Working Class in England (Frogmore, Panther Books, 1974), saw Ur centers in terms of a convergence of various processes & phenomena, with Ur life reflecting the expansion of the capitalist mode of production. For Engels, the large cities were also the birthplaces of the workers movement. The city as an independent variable emerged from the "Chicago School," which inaugurated Ur sociology. Ur sociologists focused particularly on "social pathology" in the rapidly growing North American cities. Louis Wirth was the first to formulate a sociological & sociopsychological theory of urbanism in which the city was a variable that explained forms of action & social organization & led to a new culture. His ideas were closely associated with the concept of the "folk-Ur continuum" developed by the anthropologist Robert Redfield from his research in Mexico. Redfield's most famous critic is Oscar Lewis, who sees the concept of the folk-Ur continuum as inadequate & confusing. Subsequent authors have critically evaluated the notion of the Ru-Ur continuum, & have not found it useful because it views the city as the cause of social processes, which may more adequately be seen as the consequences of Ur life. It is concluded that the approach that views the city as a contextual variable may be the most useful one. S. Whittle.