Fighting in the Streets Ethnic Succession and Urban Unrest in Twentieth-Century America

"Using sophisticated mapping and statistical techniques to compare several cases of urban ethnic violence that took place in 20th century America, Herman unlocks the fundamental combination of circumstances that fostered urban unrest during three presumably distinct periods in American history. Applying a uniform method to cases from each cycle of collective violence, World War One through World War Two, the 1960s, and the 1980s through 1990s, Herman shows that while surface circumstances surrounding urban riots vary greatly, the root causes do not. Rich historical descriptions both supplement and confirm the quantitative analyses, providing context to explain how rapid changes in population combine with economic inequalities to produce episodes of racial/ethnic conflict. Herman's writing is fluid, and fully convincing. This book is a must-read for students of urban politics and collective violence." Bert Useem, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico