URBN Abstracts

This is a course examining the impact of globalization on cities and urban life. After an overview of the global economy, we consider the broader spectrum of political, policy, and planning issues in the changing global landscape. (Adapted from the course syllabus [PDF])

Texts:

F. Webster (ed.). The Information Society Reader. Routledge, 2004. (ISR)

D. Clark. Urban World/Global City (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2003. (UWGC)

Real World Globalization (8th ed.). Dollars and Sense Publishing, 2004. (RWG)

	Writings for submission	Additional Resources
Week Three: Cities as Spaces of Growth (discussion leader)	UWGC Ch. 3 abstract UWGC Ch. 4 abstract	"Cities and Globalization: Old Wine in New Bottles?" Diane Davis (MIT)
Week Four: Information Cities and the International Division of Labor	ISR Chapters 1-6: Review Essay	Dissertation on Intellectual Property Policy (PDF) IGU Commission Report on Information Society Douglas Kellner "Theorizing Globalization"
Week Five: Globalization and Third World Cities	UWGC Ch. 5 abstract UWCG Ch. 6 abstract	UN Human Development Indices Global Policy Forum: Articles on Social and Economic Policyat the UN United Nations Homepage World Health Organization What is Rural? The End of What? (Morley and Robins) US Census Data: Urban v. Rural Populations
Week Six: Post-Industrial Cities? (discussion leader)	ISR Chapters 7-12 Review Essay Discussion Questions	Worldwide employment statistics graphically represented, including employment by sector (International Labour Organization) Monthly Economic Review by the Congressional Task Force on Manufacturing US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook and Employment Forecasts Mark Poster, Existential Marxism in Postwar France (full text, HTML) Sherry Turkle: MIT Initiative on Technology and Self Very brief history of Capitalism (WSU Internet Classroom and Anthology: World Civilizations) Excellent Primer on Technological Determinism
Week Seven: Public vs. Militarized Societies	RWG Chapters 10, 37-42 Review Essay	National Security Strategy of the United States 2002 [PDF] "The Military Industrial Complex" from The Center for Defense Information Hegemony and Militarized Globalism: A Selection of Excerpts Pro and Con (with source links) Eisenhower's MIC speech (1961) with audio links Military as Polluter (Clearwater Revival Co.) Military Toxics Project
Week Eight: The Sociological and Environmental Dimensions of Globalism	RWG Chapters 9, 32, 33, 35, 36 Review Essay	Editorial on the Sustainability of Globalism [PDF] "Environmental Security in a World of Perpetual War" from The Nautilus Institute [PDF] Globalization, Sustainability and the Nation-State [PDF] EU Committee Report on the Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of "Converging Technologies" [PDF] A Regulatory Approach to Neoliberal Globalism (Journal of Australian Political Economy) [PDF]
Week Nine: Surveillance, Virtuality, and the City	ISR Chapters 20,21,22,27,29	Under Construction
Week Ten: World Cities and Resistance to Globalization	RWG Chapter 45 Abstract Clark Chapter 7 Abstract Clark Chapter 8 Abstract	Under Construction
And because I suck...	The Final Exam (Word document)