Ruth Fincher - Böcker

A timely new look at coexisting without assimilating in multicultural citiesIf city life is a “being together of strangers,” what forms of being together should we strive for in cities with ethnic and racial diversity? Everyday Equalities seeks evidence of progressive political alternatives to racialized inequality that are emerging from everyday encounters in Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney, and Toronto-settler colonial cities that, established through efforts to dispossess and eliminate indigenous societies, have been destinations for waves of immigrants from across the globe ever since. Everyday Equalities finds such alternatives being developed as people encounter one another in the process of making a home, earning a living, moving around the city, and forming collective actions or communities. Here four leading scholars in critical urban geography come together to deliver a powerful and cohesive message about the meaning of equality in contemporary cities. Drawing on both theoretical reflection and urban ethnographic research, they offer the formulation “being together in difference as equals” as a normative frame to reimagine the meaning and pursuit of equality in today’s urban multicultures. As the examples in Everyday Equalities indicate, much emotional labor, combined with a willingness to learn from each other, negotiate across differences, and agitate for change goes into constructing environments that foster being together in difference as equals. Importantly, the authors argue, a commitment to equality is not only a hope for a future city but also a way of being together in the present.

A timely new look at coexisting without assimilating in multicultural citiesIf city life is a “being together of strangers,” what forms of being together should we strive for in cities with ethnic and racial diversity? Everyday Equalities seeks evidence of progressive political alternatives to racialized inequality that are emerging from everyday encounters in Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney, and Toronto-settler colonial cities that, established through efforts to dispossess and eliminate indigenous societies, have been destinations for waves of immigrants from across the globe ever since. Everyday Equalities finds such alternatives being developed as people encounter one another in the process of making a home, earning a living, moving around the city, and forming collective actions or communities. Here four leading scholars in critical urban geography come together to deliver a powerful and cohesive message about the meaning of equality in contemporary cities. Drawing on both theoretical reflection and urban ethnographic research, they offer the formulation “being together in difference as equals” as a normative frame to reimagine the meaning and pursuit of equality in today’s urban multicultures. As the examples in Everyday Equalities indicate, much emotional labor, combined with a willingness to learn from each other, negotiate across differences, and agitate for change goes into constructing environments that foster being together in difference as equals. Importantly, the authors argue, a commitment to equality is not only a hope for a future city but also a way of being together in the present.

Planning theory and practice has become more conscious in recent times of the need to cater for a diverse range of needs and preferences. But there has been less clarity about what goals and objectives should inform planning for such diversity. In this important new book Ruth Fincher and Kurt Iveson identify three distinct working principles of planning for diversity: redistribution, recognition and encounter. Each principle is the subject of a pair of chapters. The first explaining the principle and the second showcasing and comparing efforts to shape cities according to it, drawing on relevant examples from around the world.Planning for Diversity is the ideal introduction to the issues that surround diversity and planning and provides a stimulating new line of advance for reducing inequality and working towards 'just diversity' in cities.Ruth Fincher is Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne, Australia.Kurt Iveson is Lecturer in Urban Geography at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Planning theory and practice has become more conscious in recent times of the need to cater for a diverse range of needs and preferences. But there has been less clarity about what goals and objectives should inform planning for such diversity. In this important new book Ruth Fincher and Kurt Iveson identify three distinct working principles of planning for diversity: redistribution, recognition and encounter. Each principle is the subject of a pair of chapters. The first explaining the principle and the second showcasing and comparing efforts to shape cities according to it, drawing on relevant examples from around the world.Planning for Diversity is the ideal introduction to the issues that surround diversity and planning and provides a stimulating new line of advance for reducing inequality and working towards 'just diversity' in cities.Ruth Fincher is Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne, Australia.Kurt Iveson is Lecturer in Urban Geography at the University of Sydney, Australia.