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Looking for an introduction to the topic of race-related urban riots in the United States? Or maybe a through overview of several key sequences of urban unrest in the American twentieth century? Then you've come to the right place (space?) in Janet Abu-Loghod's new book of riot case studies. On the prowl for a penetrating, novel analysis or a theoretical advance in theories of racial rebellion and urban politics? Hoping for clear pointers to public policy initiatives that will prevent future rioting? You'll likely be disappointed.
Back jacket puffery aside, Abu-Loghod's book delivers something worthwhile to the riot literature: an organization of the stories of several key uprisings in three of America's biggest and most important cultural hubs: Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. For once, these riots are laid out--front to back--and placed in "space," meaning the historical, demographic, economic, and racial and ethnic political context that birthed each riot and conditioned its trajectory and aftermath. Bravo! Any person bent on studying and understanding American rioting, and indeed its modern racial context, can get a good education in the basics from Race, Space, and Riots. Years of studying these riots and the literature (fragmented, according to Abu-Loghod), leads me to the conclusion that the...