Review by Richard M. Morse in Caribbean Studies.
Also reviewed in Revista Mexicana de Sociología .
From the inner-sleeve:
"The evaluation of urbanism as a way of life is especially crucial for cities in transition, those compelled to make present decisions about the whole course of their future development. San Juan is of particular interest because of the way it has grown by migration. Most of its new residents come directly from agricultural villages or isolated farms, without intervening stages. Because of its relationship to the United States, San Juan has more industries, more automobiles, more modernity of every kind than would ordinarily be expected in the capital city of an underdeveloped area.
"...The neighborhood -- as it will be described in this book -- is the first stage of society beyond the individual household. The analysis of such miniature social systems may be informative, as a step towards the analysis of larger chunks of social reality that can not be so easily observed or understood.
"...our inquiry into the San Juan neighborhood will carry us into some reflections on the nature of urbanism and the general question of how small voluntary groups develop and survive. we shall examine such problems as whether an increase in the intimacy of associations in a group can be expected to decrease the number of relationships and whether people who seek a closer relationship with their social superiors will necessarily avoid the company of their inferiors...some of these problems have not been posed in this form before..."
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