The Levittowners : Ways of Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community / Herbert J. Gans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gans, Herbert J., author.

Contributor:

Molotch, Harvey Luskin.

Series:

Legacy editions (Columbia University. Press)

Legacy Editions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Suburban life.

Willingboro (N.J. : Township)--Social conditions.

Willingboro (N.J. : Township).

Willingboro (N.J. : Township)--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (527 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In 1955, Levitt and Sons purchased most of Willingboro Township, New Jersey and built 11,000 homes. This, their third Levittown, became the site of one of urban sociology's most famous community studies, Herbert J. Gans's The Levittowners. The product of two years of living in Levittown, the work chronicles the invention of a new community and its major institutions, the beginnings of social and political life, and the former city residents' adaptation to suburban living. Gans uses his research to reject the charge that suburbs are sterile and pathological. First published in 1967, The Levittowners is a classic of participant-observer ethnography that also paints a sensitive portrait of working-class and lower-middle-class life in America. This new edition features a foreword by Harvey Molotch that reflects on Gans's challenges to conventional wisdom.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Tables

Foreword / Molotch, Harvey

Preface to the Morningside Edition

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction. The Setting, Theory, and Method of the Study

Part 1 - THE ORIGIN OF A COMMUNITY

One. The Planners of Levittown

Two. The Levittowners- and Why They Came

Three. The Beginnings of Group Life

Four. The Founding of Churches

Five. The New School System

Six. The Emergence of Party Politics

Seven. The Origin of a Community

PART 2- THE QUALITY OF SUBURBAN LIFE

Eight. Social Life: Suburban Homogeneity and Conformity

Nine. The Vitality of Community Culture

Ten. Family and Individual Adaptation

Eleven. The Impact of the Community

PART 3- THE DEMOCRACY OF POLITICS

Twelve. Political Communication

Thirteen. The Decision- making Process

Fourteen. Politics and Planning

Fifteen. Levittown and America

Appendix. The Methods of the Study

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Sep 2018)

ISBN:

9780231542647

023154264X

OCLC:

1054863947