Where are the people? Review essay on Thomas Sugrue's The Origins of the Urban Crisis

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Abstract

Thomas Sugrue's widely acclaimed book on Detroit's urban, racial crisis, The Origins of the Urban Crisis, extends mainstream liberal analysis, finding structural roots of Detroit's plight in his two D's: deindustrialization and discrimination. Despite the insights this approach offers, we argue that Sugre separates the dynamics of the economic and political structure from the political and social struggles of the people who were its victims. Sugre sees black Detroiters only as victims reacting to oppression and not as historical actors challenging the system and ushering in movements seeking to create a better society. The struggles of black workers shaped many of the institutions that structure life for all Detroiters, even as those very structures restricted the space within which black workers could struggle.

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Bates, B., Bates, T., & Boggs, G. L. (2000). Where are the people? Review essay on Thomas Sugrue’s The Origins of the Urban Crisis. Review of Black Political Economy. Springer Science and Business Media, LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02717260

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