The Middle Classes and the City A Study of Paris and London

by Bacqué, Marie-Hélène; Bridge, Gary; Benson, Michaela; Butler, Tim; Charmes, Eric; Fijalkow, Yankel; Jackson, Emma; Launay, Lydie; Vermeersch, Stéphanie

• ISBN13: 9781137332592
• ISBN10: 113733259X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-02-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

What does it mean to be middle class in the contemporary city? What do the middle classes do to these cities and what do these cities do to middle class identity? Do the middle classes engage in social mix or do they seek out 'people like us'? How much do middle-class attitudes and activities vary by neighbourhood as well as across two global cities? Based on a large comparative study of different types of neighbourhood (gentrifying and gentrified inner urban, suburban, exurban and gated communities) in both Paris and London, The Middle Classes and the City explores how class intersects with gender, ethnicity, and intergenerational relations in the fragmentation of middle-class lifestyles, as well as identifying their common practices (especially in relation to schooling and gender divisions of labour). It suggests that localized neighbourhood activities, as well social interactions and mobilities across the city as a whole, are used by the middle classes to manage social mix and social reproduction, involving different degrees of competition and compromise.

Author Biography

Marie-Hélène Bacqué is Professor of Urban Studies at the University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France.
 
Gary Bridge is Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. Michaela Benson is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmith's College, University of London, UK.
 
Tim Butler is Professor of Geography at King's College London, UK.
 
Eric Charmes is Director of Interdisciplinary Research on City, Space and Society, University of Lyon, France.
 
Yankel Fijalkow is Professor of Social Science at the Centre de Recherché sur l'Habitat ENSA Paris-Val de Seine, France.
 
Emma Jackson is Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, UK.
 
Lydie Launay is Doctor of Sociology at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France.
 
Stéphanie Vermeersch is Doctor of Sociology at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France.

Table of Contents

1.The Middle Classes and the City
2.Locating the Middle Classes in Paris and London
3.Being Middle Class
4.Residential Choice and Representation of Place
5.Lived Space
6.Staying Middle Class
7.Changing Places
8.Rethinking Class and Space