Public Los Angeles is a collection of unpublished essays by scholar
Don Parson focusing on little-known characters and histories
located in the first half of twentieth-century Los Angeles. An
infamously private city in the eyes of outside observers,
structured around single-family homes and an aggressively
competitive regional economy, Los Angeles has often been celebrated
or caricatured as the epitome of an American society bent on
individualism, entrepreneurialism, and market ingenuity. But Don
Parson presents a different vision for the vast Southern California
metropolis, one that is deftly illustrated by stories of sustained
struggles for social and economic justice led by activists, social
workers, architects, housing officials, and a courageous judge.
Public Los Angeles presents insights into LA's historic
collectivism, networks of solidarity, and government policy. A
follow-up to Parson's seminal Making a Better World: Public
Housing, the Red Scare, and the Direction of Modern Los Angeles
(2005), this volume helps shape our understanding of public
housing, gender and housework, judicial activism, and race and
class in modernday Los Angeles and asks us if history is repeating.
Parson's work anchors a collection of nine essays by friends and
mentors who deepen the discussion of his themes: Dana Cuff, Mike
Davis, Steven Flusty, Greg Goldin, Jacqueline Leavitt, Laura
Pulido, Sue Ruddick, Tom Sitton, Edward W. Soja, and Jennifer
Wolch. The book is richly illustrated. Biographical and curatorial
essays by the book's editors, Roger Keil and Judy Branfman, provide
background material and a coherent storyline for a mosaic of fresh
Los Angeles research.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!