"Michael Peter Smith has done it again! Perhaps the mostsophisticated urban theorist alive has written a beautifullycrafted book that develops a sophisticated and innovative theory ofcontemporary transnational urbanism and fleshes it out withfascinating empirical and ethnographic examples drawn chiefly, butnot exclusively, from major U.S. cities. The perfect volume tostimulate rethinking of the urban question." Janet Abu-Lughod,Northwestern University
"Michael Peter Smith has been one of the leading theorists inurban affairs for many years. This book takes him to a new level,ranking him at the very top with Harvey and Castells. Smith'sreconceptualization of globalization and his insistence on a moreprecise language - transnational
urbanism - is groundbreaking. Thisbook stands as an influential intellectual statement that otherscholars will be obliged to take into account for many years."Dennis Judd, Urban Affairs Review
"Smith rightly insists that we need to look behind the mantrasof 'globalization,' 'capital,' 'global cities,' and'postmodernity'. He provides a highly persuasive argument for therecognition of human agency, locality and the growth of culturalpractices from below. This is a major work - Smith has succeeded inreturning urban theory to the streets where it belongs." RobinCohen, University of Warwick
"Countering the structural tendencies of urban politicaleconomists, the ahistoricism of globalists, and the abstractions ofpostmodernists, Smith presents "transnational urbanism" as acultural metaphor for an agency oriented urban theory. Cities arethe primary sites of transnational urbanism -a pervasive andcomplex process involving cultures, policies, institutions, actors,and localities. Smith's is the most balanced theoretical approachto globalization, seeing it as it works, without any vilificationor glorification. This is an important book in the field forgraduate students and faculty." Choice
"Since 1979, when he published The City and SocialTheory, Michael Peter Smith has been providing us with closereadings of the writings of urban theorists. TransnationalUrbanism is one of the strongest of these offerings, dissectingthe hidden agendas and limitations of theories of globalization andrescuing the city from globalization's clutches.The value ofSmith's ethnographic social constructionism.depends neither ondevastating critiques nor sole possession of the space of urbantheory. With insight and persuasion, Smith has made a powerful casefor a transnational urbanism." Urban Affairs Review
"This is a powerful and important book. The arguments, subtlebut significant to the evolution of our understanding of globalsystemic change, are compelling. Smith deepens our conceptualsophistication on globalization, sociospatial dynamics, the role ofthe urban in international relations, and the mechanisms of agencyin a world where forces appear to be beyond our control. Smith hasgiven us a significant work, insightful.in its critique of thesocial evolutionism literature that has dominated this first phaseof our struggle to locate globalization." InternationalAffairs
"[T]his is a book to be recommended. Ably supported bywell-chosen cases and vignettes, Smith's argument injects aconstructive element into the debate about the local and the globalin what is altogether a stimulating read." Environment andPlanning A
"Transnational Urbanism is an impressive book. It offersa state-of-the-art theoretical treatise on globalization and thecity, which even those sceptical that new terms and novel methodscan save globalization theory from its conceptual morass will gainmuch from reading." -- Environment and Planning B: Planning andDesign
