Urban civility or urban community? A false opposition in Richard Sennett's conception of public ethos

Bibliographic Data

ID2398028
AuthorsB Van Leeuwen (0000-0001-6316-9100, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume17
Issue1
Pages3-23
Publication date2014-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1368-4310 • E-ISSN: 1461-7137
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1368431013484002
OpenAlexW2114626722
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited63

Richard Sennett can be interpreted as one of the more robust representatives of a current critique with regard to ethnic communities in urban areas, namely, that such ethnic enclaves are a proof of urban disintegration and failing citizenship. Firstly, I take issue with Sennett's assumption that there is an inherent tension between in-group solidarity and the ability to deal with members of perceived out-groups. Secondly, instead of simply cutting citizens off from the wider public sphere and leaving them politically ineffective, as Sennett argues, urban communities can be instrumental in a struggle for emancipation and equal rights. Thirdly, a sense of belonging is a basic aspect of human well-being. Urban villages or ethnic clusters are able to provide this. Therefore, as long as a local identity is not exclusive or the effect of involuntary segregation, ethno-cultural concentrations in the city are acceptable from the moral-political point of view

Citizenship · Civility · Emancipation · Ethnic group · Ethos · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Sociology · Solidarity · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Religion and Society Interactions

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