Ethnography and the City

"Ethnography and the City is an invaluable book for readers fascinated by city life, and for anyone planning to conduct original ethnographic research will become an essential text. Sociologist Richard Ocejo, himself a talented urban ethnographer, offers readers an outstanding set of classic and contemporary urban ethnographic essays, with original introductions that brilliantly highlight the personal, theoretical, and ethical challenges of the urban ethnographer’s science and craft." – William Kornblum, Sociology, Chair, Center for Urban Research, Graduate Center, City University of New York

"A strong, well-constructed volume of readings both classic and contemporary that will yield the careful reader great insight into the continued challenge of urban ethnography." – Gerardo Marti, Sociology, Davidson College

"This volume is a must-read for budding and seasoned urban ethnographers. Like no other reader, this collection of essays showcases four core themes that ethnographers must grapple with to successfully collect rich, compelling, and accurate data. For those teaching ethnography and qualitative methods, adding this volume to course readings will greatly enhance student mastery of this invaluable social science research method." – Derek S. Hyra, Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech

"Ethnography and the City is a unique pedagogical complement to traditional 'how-to' guides. Instructors will find it practical because Ocejo has selected readings and written original essays that succinctly elucidate the core issues surrounding gaining access to a field site and managing relations with participants. Students will find it inspiring because Ocejo includes excerpts from a number of first-time ethnographers and even recounts his own initial immersion in the field." – Colin Jerolmack, Sociology, Environmental Studies, New York University

"Richard Ocejo's unique reader is invaluable for introducing students to the United States' rich tradition of urban ethnography. Drawing from both sociological and anthropological perspectives, from the canonical to the cutting edge, he presents a set of carefully chosen readings, organized and contextualized with substantial essays around the key themes of immersion and relationships with participants." – Teresa Gowan, Sociology, University of Minnesota

"Ethnography and the City provides an engaging tour of several decades of urban scholarship. The volume’s articles and Ocejo’s insightful introductory essays outline key dilemmas urban ethnographers encounter, as well as central data collection techniques. This original volume will be a welcome addition to undergraduate and graduate methods classes, particularly those on ethnography or, more specifically, on methods for studying and understanding the city. The book will also serve courses in urban sociology, planning, and geography, for Ocejo’s selections expose students to important substantive and theoretical developments in the study of cities, while simultaneously introducing them to a methodological tradition that many urban scholars utilize." – Japonica Brown-Saracino, Sociology, Boston University

"The ethnography of 'people and places in cities' has a rich tradition in American social science and this edited volume showcases the development of this line of research and its current resurgence. A solid and fascinating read as an introduction for students in urban and qualitative research courses." – Albert Hunter, Urban Studies, Northwestern University

"Richard E. Ocejo's Ethnography and the City is a valuable guide to urban ethnography - the first of its kind - one of the merits of which lies in the interesting selection of texts on offer...This work is a very good introduction to observation, participation and ethnographic description that will be of interest to both professionals and teachers, while also remaining accessible to young students. Indeed, anyone interested in urban experiments will take great pleasure in dipping in and out of each of these 'little social worlds'." – Daniel Cefai, metropolitiques.eu

“Intended primarily as a textbook for qualitative methods and urban studies courses, this is an eminently usable introduction to urban fieldwork and makes for a very good read. In easily digestible form, the book presents compelling ethnographic writing about life in large US cities from the mid-20th century on and illustrates the merits of that research method… the editor’s introductory essays and the readings work together very well in all four sections and make this collection a very useful teaching tool. Almost all of the ethnographic texts are pertinent to the section themes and the introductions have obviously been composed by a well-informed, clear-headed writer.” – Moritz Ege, Urban Studies