Cities shape the lives and outlooks of billions of people, yet
they have been overshadowed in contemporary political thought by
nation-states, identity groups, and concepts like justice and
freedom. "The Spirit of Cities" revives the classical idea that a
city expresses its own distinctive ethos or values. In the ancient
world, Athens was synonymous with democracy and Sparta represented
military discipline. In this original and engaging book, Daniel
Bell and Avner de-Shalit explore how this classical idea can be
applied to today's cities, and they explain why philosophy and the
social sciences need to rediscover the spirit of cities.
Bell and de-Shalit look at nine modern cities and the prevailing
ethos that distinguishes each one. The cities are Jerusalem
(religion), Montreal (language), Singapore (nation building), Hong
Kong (materialism), Beijing (political power), Oxford (learning),
Berlin (tolerance and intolerance), Paris (romance), and New York
(ambition). Bell and de-Shalit draw upon the richly varied
histories of each city, as well as novels, poems, biographies,
tourist guides, architectural landmarks, and the authors' own
personal reflections and insights. They show how the ethos of each
city is expressed in political, cultural, and economic life, and
also how pride in a city's ethos can oppose the homogenizing
tendencies of globalization and curb the excesses of
nationalism.
"The Spirit of Cities" is unreservedly impressionistic.
Combining strolling and storytelling with cutting-edge theory, the
book encourages debate and opens up new avenues of inquiry in
philosophy and the social sciences. It is a must-read for lovers of
cities everywhere. In a new preface, Bell and de-Shalit further
develop their idea of "civicism," the pride city dwellers feel for
their city and its ethos over that of others.
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