Voices of Decline

The Postwar Fate of US Cities

By: Robert A. Beauregard

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Paperback | 25 October 2002 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Paperback
322 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.7

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"Voices of Decline" is a sweeping history of dominant representations of the American City in the twentieth century. Upon its initial publication in 1993, the book was hailed as a breakthrough book that introduced discourse analysis and an appreciation of the shaping power of representation into American urban studies. Beauregard has identified a pervasive discourse of decline about American cities, one that shaped the policy response to the perceived "urban crisis" of the postwar era. The discourse also had a powerful influence on how Americans viewed their cities. In chronologically organized chapters, he details the dominant features of this discourse as it shifted over time, simultaneously uncovering the deeper unease that lay beneath the surface of the discourse - fears of national decline and the decay of civilization itself. He also considers the absences in the discourse regarding race and poverty, and assesses their negative impact on both public policy and urban social life. This second edition has been thoroughly rewritten and now includes an account of the boom years of the 1990s.

Industry Reviews

"Beauregard recovers an intellectual history of the city that has been overlooked by historians and planners. Yet one cannot understand the postwar exhaustion of urban policy without knowing this history of American public discourse about cities. With care and authority, he shows how traditional American unease with cities was transformed after World War II into a powerful narrative of decline that made the hollowing-out of urban life seem 'natural,' inevitable. Anyone interested in the past and future of American cities must read this book." -- Thomas Bender, New York University, and author of TheUnfinished City and New York Intellect
"Voices of Decline digs under layers of conventional urban wisdom to reveal the roots and consequences of how we think about city life. Masterfully recreating and analyzing the often melodramatic public conversation about cities over the last half century, Robert Beauregard makes the whole range of urban discourse come alive with meaning and a rich historical resonance. In this admirably revised edition, he has not only updated an invaluable work on the American city, he has made it even more incisive, powerful, and useful." -- Carlo Rotella, Boston College, and author of Good With TheirHands: Boxers, Bluesmen, and Other Characters From theRust Belt

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