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Urbanism Reconsidered: A Southern Appalachian Perspective
Author(s) -
Keefe Susan Emley
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
city and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1548-744X
pISSN - 0893-0465
DOI - 10.1525/ciso.1994.7.1.20
Subject(s) - urbanism , appalachia , mainstream , ethnic group , metropolitan area , sociology , individualism , new urbanism , perspective (graphical) , gender studies , economic geography , geography , political science , anthropology , archaeology , law , architecture , paleontology , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology
URBANISM IS GENERALLY DEFINED as a way of life unique to cities which embodies individualism, impersonalism, transience, a secular world view, as well as the loss of community, extended family, and ties to the land. This article argues that much of what is considered “urbanism” by American anthropologists consists of cultural traits characteristic of the dominant American ethnic group, mainstream Anglo‐Americans. This is illustrated with a case study involving the growth and development of a small town in Southern Appalachia in which native Appalachians and non‐Appalachian mainstream inmigrants engage in ethnic conflict over the widening of a state highway running through town. Urban anthropology is urged to broaden its scope to include studies of regional contexts incorporating rural areas and small towns as well as metropolitan cities and to critically examine the concept of urbanism through comparative ethnic studies, [urbanism, ethnicity, Appalachia, Anglo‐Americans]