The Reportage of Urban Culture

"Overall, this is a very rich study of the origins of the Chicago School and of the intellectual influences on Robert Park. That he saw a sociologist as in reality a poet, committed through 'intuition and sensitivity' to dissecting the 'ossified shells of conventional thought,' suggests why this discipline still has much to contribute to the study of the urban world." Peter McGahan, Urban History Review

In this original and convincing study, Rolf Lindner argues that the method of urban research constituting the core of the famous Chicago School of sociology is ultimately indebted to the tradition of urban reportage. However, the argument goes beyond a reconstruction of the relationship between journalism and sociology. Professor Lindner shows how the figure of the city reporter at the turn of the century represents a new way of looking at life, and reflects a transformation in American culture, from rejecting variety to embracing it.