The Americas in the Twentieth-Century World

Abstract

Sets six new world cities—Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Houston—in the context of their nations and a changing global economy. Details how distinct cities faced changing possibilities and limits on production, employment, and resources for urban infrastructure while populations soared everywhere. Concentrations of wealth and power came everywhere, too, while new marginalities led to informal and often illegal economic activities, along with violence that at times led to carceral regimes. Popular mobilizations often brought real gains—yet rarely transformed trajectories toward concentration and often served to stabilize enduring inequities.