please post: list on comparative urbanization: COMPURB-L

[Hello--what follows is the welcome message for the list I have been 
hosting on comparative urbanization. It was started almost two years ago 
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It has maintained a widely 
international  subscriber base around 200.  Please read or pass on to those 
you know would be interested. I posted this around year ago to the list. I 
am interested in seeing if there are some additional people who would find 
this a resource. Thanks, Mark Whitaker, listowner COMPURB-L]


Welcome to COMPURB-L!

COMPURB-L is devoted to the developing of interest and the sharing of
information on something which has been basically a crucible of
human/environmental history for the past 10,000 years--the effects of
urbanization. Why then a separate list devoted to comparative urbanization? 
Because COMPURB-L list members simply wish to focus more attention upon the 
urban form in an interdisciplinary and theoretical vein. 

Firstly, its political economy, structural and cultural changes, issues of
governance, social movements, environmental relationships--all are seen as 
a fruitful methodology for historical and sociological study which overlap
many disciplines. This can simultaneously provide insight into our past and
our present experience, whether in a strict theoretical sense or in a 
critical vein.

Secondly, this list for comparative study can help to formulate a much more
rigorous model for 'comparative urban studies.' As many I am sure are 
aware, what has passed for 'comparative' and 'international' in scope in the
literature was typically an exploration into 'European' urbanization or was
geared towards examining the process of 'democratization' or 
'capitalization.'


        In the spirit of a keynote address, I offer the following ideas to
generate some guidelines for discussion.  I foresee four major threads
being stitched together in this list:  the historical, the sociological, the
philosophical, and the methodological. The point is that the phenomenon of 
urbanization can  serve as an organizing principle of these areas.


HISTORICAL


The historical component would deal with developmental issues of
urbanization from any epoch. What are the effects on human cultures
comparatively speaking as they undergo urbanization? What differences would 
counterpoint useful factors? What are the environmental effects of
urbanization? Are they the same for urban cultures worldwide, in all 
epochs? What differences would elucidate the process of urbanization? 
Taking into consideration that ecological degradation has historically been 
the handmaiden to urbanization, where do we 'go' now that much of the world 
is urbanized and the dialectic of expansion and urbanization is nearly 
ended as a cycle? What will occur sociopolitically at such a point? The 
historical will be concerned with data and empirical bases of the following 
areas.



SOCIOLOGICAL


The sociological component has been explored extensively in urban 
sociology, especially within the past 20 years, yet it has not been 
utilized as a comparative methodology in a structural and spatial sense 
except in rare occasions.  What forms will our social lives take and what 
will structure those lives?  What are the sociological ramifications of 
urbanization? What makes them different (if they are) from other forms of 
organized communities? What drives urban planning policies?


PHILOSOPHICAL


Other component disciplines which I anticipate can donate (and take) much
from looking at comparative urbanization studies are: economics, geography, 
political sociology, anthropology, environmental history, ecology, world 
history, philosophy of history, environmental sociology, the sociology of 
economic change, cultural studies, the history of technology, and nomadic 
studies (for cross cultural comparison and economic change questions). 


METHODOLOGICAL

The list will of course be interested in extrapolating comparative 
information from the phenomenon of urbanization, taking it as a premise 
that variations can teach as much as patterns, particularly considering 
that societies are social processes with many interrelated forces, 
interests and exclusions seemingly embedded in the fabric of social and 
urban space.  How can further research be structured to explore variations 
or patterns?    Interesting examples of how already existing research has 
been conducted, as well as recent examples, will be of interest. 


REJOINDERS


Though I have established this list with a scholarly, theoretical, and
applied intent on comparative issues, by no means is that tacitly 
discouraging those interested in other questions to avoid querying for 
information or supplying their viewpoints. That is the point of the list. 
If we are unable to handle critique or information 'outside accustomed 
channels,' there is something wrong.  Comparative studies should be 
inherently interdisciplinary, and the list depends upon those of diverse 
backgrounds contributing their special share to develop a useful framework 
of study. The point of the list is the discussion of the value of what 
should go into this comparative framework. So as you host I am suggesting 
you ask these questions: What heuristics can enlighten urban study?  Are 
there any examples/counterexamples which would be useful? Why is this 
important in comparative issues and where could it take the inquiry? In the 
applied sense, what problematics could be endemically urban phenomena, and 
what courses can be taken? In the applied sense, I expect the list to be a 
useful resource for urban and regional planning interests, for comments and 
questions which widen the channels of available information for
those interested/concerned with urban planning issues. 
        The sharing of information and the weighing of its utility are going
to go hand in hand. 

Though the list is established to be a forum for exchange for 
theoretical/applied issues dealing with the urban form, historical process, 
 and social organization, the urban form is only the grander organizational 
 point for dealing with the wider effects of social structure in discussing 
human interaction, and ideological and tangible cultural production 
processes in history--how we process the urban site culturally, and how the 
urban site processes and qualifies our repertoire of activities, 
associations, life paths, and creative action (at least that is my 
particular interest.). I would invite and appreciate anyone interested in 
'nomadic' peoples to sit in on this group as a 'gadfly' and keep us from 
making any urban specific generalizations which are unwarranted. I also 
invite people to explain areas where they have found a dearth of 
information and expected more. Sometimes that is more interesting than 
finding a wealth of information, since it helps explain different 
disciplines' methodologically 'normal' pathways and suggests other 
approaches.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

WEBSITE

A website will be maintained at www.sit.wisc.edu/~mrkdwhit/compurb-l/.  
This will be mostly for three areas--(1) the sorting of a bibliography 
compiled through the participants suggestions of what they find useful in 
discussing comparative urbanization issues, or (2), what they feel will 
expand the reach of such studies which have yet to occur. (3) As I find the 
time, I will web post many of the conference and funding sources which have 
been forwarded to the list. I encourage you to post a short commentary 
about a work you have recently read, or a path-breaking methodological 
approach. Anyone with expertise in the area of web publishing should feel 
welcomed in offering their advice or services as the pages are updated.  

ARCHIVE

The list is archived. See the below attachment for receiving the aggregate 
archive file.

ROUTER FOR CONFERENCES, FUNDING, REVIEWS, ETC.

Over the past year, this list has become a major router for conference
announcements and potential funding sources dealing with urban issues.
Occasionally, it has book reviews forwarded as well.  If you have any
additional information related to these areas, the list would be an ideal
way to notify a wide public from many different backgrounds with an 
interest in urban issues. As of October 9, 1999, there are 203 members from 
a worldwide geographic and institutional base.

LANGUAGES

        Personally, I have the use of  English and French.   I have 
forwarded many reviews/posts in both English and/or French, as I know there 
are more than a handful of  subscribers from Canada and French who would 
find it potentially useful. 
         On the whole, this list has so far been conducted in English, 
however. This is less a calculated policy, and more a result of default 
languages that have been used in posting. Personally, I would like to see 
the list expanded into several languages. I would welcome this, even if it 
means English speakers might feel alienated, though I am unsure why this 
would be. The way I see it, if a coterie of non-English speakers--in 
addition to the English speakers-- find the list useful for themselves, 
then the utility of the list is expanded for all members.  I would invite 
bilingual or non-English monolinguals to subscribe because the list is 
international in its base. I am sure English is a second language for many.
        Particularly, if there is someone who wishes to take on the role of 
German editor/scout for the list please contact me.  This would entail the 
forwarding of messages to me that they find interesting, which I would post 
to the list. 
        With the expansion of German visibility on the lists of the 
internet (at least from my perspective), I am sure there is something 
interesting I am missing, since, if it were left to me, I would 
unfortunately be unable to read it and pass it on to the list members who 
did speak German.
         In the interests of making the list more useful for everyone, I 
welcome those who would feel more comfortable using a native language. 
 
TO SUBSCRIBE

When you subscribe, please, it certainly would be conducive to discussion
if you addressed a short message to the list introducing yourself, your
affiliations, and any articles/books which you have read which have sparked 
your interests in this area. This will also help create a useful group
resource in the bibliographic pages.

If this message is forwarded to you, subscribe to the list by addressing a 
message to 'majordomo@ssc.wisc.edu'. Within the message body, type:

        subscribe compurb-l

The address for posting messages to the list is:  compurb-l@ssc.wisc.edu


Thank you.


Mark Whitaker
University of Wisconsin-Madison
list-owner for COMPURB-L 
mwhitake@ssc.wisc.edu
list posting address: compurb-l@ssc.wisc.edu

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