<A HREF="http://www.versobooks.com/books/cdef/copjec_ground.shtml">The
Politics of Propinquity</A>

Giving Ground is prompted by two phenomena whose paradoxical convergence is
currently altering our experience and conception of urban relations and city
planning. On the one hand, forces of globalisation push towards conditions of
homogenisation and deterritorialisation, while, on the other, a surging
politics of identity barricades various groups behind particular claims and
ignites violent persecutions.

The covert relations between these phenomena is the focus of the essays in
this volume. Giving Ground seeks to address a number of broad questions: What
is the role and limit of urban space in the expression of group and
individual rights and desires? Do democratic social relations require spatial
propinquity? What, if any, are the characteristics of democratic urban space?
What role does the individuality of cities play in the production of
political culture?