The Urban Review

, Volume 28, Issue 4, pp 307–333 | Cite as

Urban abstraction in a central city high school

  • Pamela J. Bettis
Article
First Online:
  • 30 Downloads

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore urban secondary students' preceptions of their school and community in teh changing economic and social context of postindustrial life. Students and teachers worked and played in a landscape which I have characterized as one ofurban abstraction, a term synthesized mainly from the work of Manuel Castells. The construct helps explain the complex, contradictory, and dynamic conditions of late-20th-century capitalistic life and their impact on the emotional and material realities of urban residents. It also helps to explain the reactions and negotiations in which students and teachers engaged in the face of a constant threat of violence and a lack of community within the school and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Keywords

Urban School Gang Member Qualitative Case Study Violent Incident Urban Student 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Bettis, Pamela J. (1994). Deindustrialization and urban schools: Some theoretical considerations.The Urban Review 26:75–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Bettis, Pamela J. (1996). Urban students, liminality, and the post-industrial context.Sociology of Education 69: 105–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bluestone, Barry, and Harrison, Bennett. (1982).The Deindustrialization of America. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  4. Brissett, Dennis and Snow, Robert. (1993). Boredom: Where the future isn't.Symbolic Interaction 16: 237–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Castells, Manuel. (1981). Local government, urban crisis, and political change. In M. Zeitlin (ed.),Political Power and Social Theory: A Research Annual, pp. 1–19. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
  6. Castells, Manuel. (1983). Crisis, planning, and the quality of life: Managing the new historical relationships between space and society.Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 1: 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Castells, Manuel. (1985). High technology, economic restructuring, and the urban-regional process in the United States. In Manuel Castells (ed.),High Technology, Space, and Society, pp. 11–40. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  8. Castells, Manuel. (1988). High technology and urban dynamics in the United States. In M. Dogan and John Kasarda (eds.),A World of Giant Cities, pp. 85–110. New York: Sage.Google Scholar
  9. Castells, Manuel. (1993). The informational economy and the new international division of labor. In Martin Carnoy, Manuel Castells, Stephen Cohen, and F. Henrique Cardoso (eds.),The New Global Economy in the Information Age, pp. 15–43. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Cuba, Lee, and Hummon, David. (1993). A place to call home: Identification with dwelling, community, and region.The Sociological Quarterly 34: 111–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Davies, Bronwyn. (1993).Shards of Glass. Cresskill, N. J.: Hampton Press.Google Scholar
  12. Denzin, Norman. (1970).The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
  13. Featherstone, Mike. (1993). Global and local cultures. In Jon Bird, Barry Curtis, Tim Putnam, George Robertson, and Lisas Tickner (eds.),Mapping the Futures, pp. 169–187. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  14. Fine, Michelle. (1994).Chartering Urban Schools: Reflections on Public High Schools in the Midst of Change. New York: Teacher's College Press.Google Scholar
  15. Giddens, Anthony. (1990).The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
  16. Glesne, Corrine, and Peshkin, Alan. (1992).Becoming Qualitative Researchers. White Plains, NY: Longman.Google Scholar
  17. Goldsmith, William, and Blakely, Edwards. (1992).Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
  18. Harrison, Bennett, and Bluestone, Barry. (1988).The Great U Turn. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  19. Harvey, David. (1985).The Urbanization of Capital. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
  20. Harvey, David. (1989).The Condition of Postmodernity: An Inquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
  21. Johnston, Bill J. (1993). The transformation of work and educational reform policy.American Educational Research Journal 30: 39–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Kasarda, John. (1989). Urban industrial transition and the underclass. In William J. Wilson (ed.),The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 501, pp. 26–47.Google Scholar
  23. Kincheloe, Joe. (1995).Toil and Trouble: Good Work, Smart Workers, and the Integration of Academic and Vocational Education. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
  24. Kincheloe, Joe, and McLaren, Peter. (1994). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In Norman Denzin and Yvonne Lincoln (eds.),The Handbook of Qualitative Research, pp. 138–157. London: Sage.Google Scholar
  25. Kretovics, Joseph, Farber, Kathleen, and Armaline, William, (1991). Reform from the bottom up: Empowering teachers to transform schools.Phi Delta Kappan 73: 295–299.Google Scholar
  26. Lather, Patti. (1991).Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagory with/in the Postmodern. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  27. LeCompte, Margaret, and Preissle, Judith. (1993).Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research. San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
  28. Mathison, Sandra. (1988). Why triangulate?Educational Researcher 17 (2): 13–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. McDowell, Linda. (1991). Restructuring production and reproduction: Some theoretical and empirical issues relating to gender, or women in Britain. In Mark Gottdiener and Charles Pickvance (eds.),Urban Life in Transition, pp. 77–105. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  30. Noyelle, Thierry, and Stanback, Thomas. (1983).The Economic Transformation of American Cities. Totowa, NJ: Roman & Allanheld.Google Scholar
  31. Ray, Carol, and Mickelson, Roslyn. (1993). Restructuring students for restructured work: The economy, school reform, and non-college bound youths.Sociology of Education 66:1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Sassen, Saskin. (1990). Economic restructuring and the American city. In W. R. Scott and J. Blake (eds.),Annual Review of Sociology, pp. 465–490. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.Google Scholar
  33. Stanback, Thomas. (1985). The changing fortunes of metropolitan economies. In Manuel Castells (ed.),High Technology, Space, and Society, pp. 122–142. New York: Sage.Google Scholar
  34. Weis, Lois. (1990).Working Class without Work. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  35. Wexler, Philip. (1987).Social Analysis of Education. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  36. Wexler, Philip. (1988). Symbolic economy of identity and denial of labor. Studies in high school number 1. In Lois Weis (ed.),Class, Race, and Gender in American Education, pp. 302–315. Albany: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
  37. Wexler, Philip. (1992).Becoming Somebody: Towards a Social Psychology of School. Washington, DC: Falmer Press.Google Scholar
  38. Zukin, Sharon. (1987). Gentrification: Culture and capital in the urban core.Annual Review of Sociology 129–147.Google Scholar
  39. Zukin, Sharon. (1991).Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disney World. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
  40. Zukin, Sharon. (1995).The Culture of Cities. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Human Sciences Press, Inc 1996

Authors and Affiliations

  • Pamela J. Bettis
    • 1
  1. 1.Educational Foundations, Leadership, and TechnologyAuburn UniversityAuburn

Personalised recommendations