摘要:
The metropoles in all western societies display new patterns of urban derelation and misery. This new regime of marginality is different to the forms of poverty we know. While in the Fordist era only working class neighbourhoods were struck by the rather cyclical phenomenon of economic crisis, the emerging type of urban destitution is going to be a long-termed and persistent problem. The article analyzes the economic, political and social reasons of this new urban marginality in the USA as well as in Western Europe, showing that there is no evidence for theories of Americanization, let alone the prematurely announced end of the nation state.