While most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the gathering momentum of L.A.'s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor.
Robert Gottlieb is Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Mark Vallianatos is Research Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Regina M. Freer is Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College.
"With this rich account of its community and labor struggles, the city of angels—and apocalypse—becomes the city of hope."—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
"This wonderful book, with its evocations of LA's alternative histories, and its bold templates for social and environmental justice, is proof that the American Left is alive and well, especially in Southern California."—Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities
"A rare book combining history, analysis, strategy and a platform – and it may well be carried out in this decade."—Tom Hayden, former State Senator, Los Angeles
304 pp.6 x 9Illus: 19 b/w photographs, 8 line illustrations, 1 table
9780520250093$34.95|£30.00Paper
Aug 2006