The Cosmopolitan Canopy

Starred review from January 17, 2011
Yale sociology professor Anderson (Code of the Street) takes the reader on an ethnographic walking tour of Philadelphia to observe how city dwellers interact across racial lines. He attends particularly to the "cosmopolitan canopy"—public settings like parks, malls, town squares that maintain civil and comfortable interactions between diverse populations. Anderson moves then to those areas where the canopy breaks down (the workplace, public transportation). Anderson's nuanced treatment of "the social dynamics of racial inequality" and his precise observations (the politics of eye contact, for example), while rooted in scholarship, are uncommonly readable: snippets from his journals and sketches of neighborhood habitués offer immediate pleasure, and the book is a people watcher's delight. And while Anderson doesn't gloss over how prevalent and pernicious racism remains in America—"There comes a time in the life of every African American, regardless of how high he or she has risen in society, when he or she is reminded of his or her place as a black man or woman"—his study allows a cautious optimism that "the canopy offers a taste of how inclusive and civil social relationships could become."

January 15, 2011

An urban ethnographer studies the racial dynamics of semi-public spaces in Philadelphia and finds in them the possibility of a new social civility among city dwellers.

Anderson (Sociology/Yale Univ.; Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City, 1999, etc.) takes readers on a revealing tour of Philadelphia's "urban canopies," neutral social settings where people of diverse backgrounds encounter one another and go about their business—shopping, eating, hanging about, meeting friends—in an usually calm and pleasant atmosphere. The author's favorite example is the large Reading Terminal Market, a group of former train sheds transformed into an enclosed public market. This market and other cosmopolitan canopies, such as Rittenhouse Square, a jazz club, an off-track betting parlor and a shopping-mall food court, provide, in Anderson's view, places where the usual social tensions and wariness of strangers in a largely segregated city give way to a certain civility. Exposure to and close encounters with individuals of different social, racial and ethnic backgrounds may give people familiarity with their fellow human beings, folks they might otherwise view in a stereotypical fashion. People could potentially take this newfound knowledge about others back to their segregated neighborhoods. Anderson also looks outside the cosmopolitan canopies at social situations where the color line dividing black and white still exists and pretenses of tolerance break down. Anecdotes abound, and the author includes excerpts from his own journal of his perambulations and observations, giving his account immediacy and verisimilitude. The writing is generally crisp and clear, free of sociological jargon, and thus accessible to most readers.

People-watching from a scientist with a message.

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February 1, 2011
Cosmopolitan canopies are those spaces in urban environments that offer a break from the tensions of chafing racial and economic differences, a place for diverse peoples to assemble and rub elbows. Sociologist and folk ethnographer Anderson offers a rich narrative of such spaces in Philadelphia, including Reading Terminal Market and Rittenhouse Square. Anderson details the give-and-take of public interaction in urban settings, much of it dictated by race and class. He observes how close and far away people sit, whether they greet each other, how deep or long their interactions are, and whether they break or reinforce barriers. He also chronicles the daily shifting of space used by the homeless, workers, residents, and commuters as they encounter, interact, and evade. Andersons observations are keen but not distant as he offers journal pages and interviews, showing his own full engagement in interactions with a cross section of Philadelphians. Anderson also offers singular insight into the social machinations of blacks in professional versus social settings. Fascinating sociology and people-watching at its profound best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)