In this book, Joe R. Feagin assesses urban questions from the new urban sociology perspective that has developed since the 1980s. One of the leading figures in this tradition of thought, Feagin places class and racial domination at the heart of the analysis of city life, change, and development. His approach takes into account political-economic histories and the rise and fall of their social institutions; the character and impact of their underlying systems of capitalism, racism, and patriarchy; and how these dynamics play out in the everyday lives of contemporary urbanites.