Los Angeles

The Mexican-origin Population: Permanent Working Class or Emerging Middle Class

by Vilma Ortiz

Coalition Building in New York and Los Angeles: Political Insiders and Social Activists

by Marco Hauptmeier

Co-author: Lowell Turner

In: Lowell Turner and Daniel B. Cornfield (eds.). Labor in the new urban battlegrounds: local solidarity in a global economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 129-143. 2007.

Decoding the ‘Metrosea’: Geographies of Incorporation in Los Angeles

by Alex Yule

Map: http://alexyule.com/papers/LA_Final_Map.pdf

The primary goal of this research study is to use empirical data and an explicitly spatial perspective to more... more The primary goal of this research study is to use empirical data and an explicitly spatial perspective to more definitively explore patterns of political division and reorganization as they relate to changes in geographies of race. I will use the following as a guiding research question: is there a spatial correlation between regional changes in black population and incorporation in Los Angeles?

Screening Los Angeles (2004)

by Brian Morris

A chapter in Drifting: Architecture and Migrancy (2004), ed. S. Cairns

Victorian Los Angeles: The Ghetto and the Glory

by Andrei Pop

Appeared in SURJ (Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal), 2003.

Against some familiar sociological approaches to LA architecture, which I criticize as overly automobile-dependent... more Against some familiar sociological approaches to LA architecture, which I criticize as overly automobile-dependent (notably Reyner Banham), I offer a 'lived' analysis of one LA Victorian house, including autobiographical comments on two years spent there.

Planningfor the Unplanned: Recovering from Crises In Megacities

by Aseem Inam

Book published by Routledge in 2005

How do cities plan for the unplanned? Do cities plan for recovery from every possible sudden shock? How does one... more How do cities plan for the unplanned? Do cities plan for recovery from every possible sudden shock? How does one prepare a plan for the recovery after a tragedy, like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York? The book discovers the systematic features that contribute to the success of planning institutions. In cities filled with uncertainty and complexity, planning institutions effectively tackle unexpected and sudden change by relying on the old and the familiar, rather than the new and the innovative.

The author argues that planning programs institutions were successful because they were bureaucratic, and relied on standardized routines, rigorous sets of established regimes, familiar programs, and institutionalized hierarchies. Also contrary to popular perception, neither the leaders at the top of the institutions nor those workers at the grassroots level were the most important in the implementation of such routines. The key actors were middle managers, because they knew the institutional structures inside out, what the routines were and how to use them, and were successful go-betweens between national governments and grassroots community groups.

Case studies from Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York provide a deeper understanding of urban planning processes. The case studies reveal that systematic institutional analysis helps us understand what works in planning, and why. They also demonstrate the manner in which institutional routines serve as powerful and effective tools for addressing novel situations.

Back to the Heart of Worship: Praise and Worship Music in a Los Angeles African-American Megachurch

by Birgitta Johnson

Published in Black Music Research Journal Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 2011) (pp. 105-129).

"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing": Music and worship in African American megachurches of Los Angeles, California

by Birgitta Johnson

Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. 2008. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Advisor

This dissertation is an ethnographic account of African American sacred music performed in the worship services of... more This dissertation is an ethnographic account of African American sacred music performed in the worship services of African American megachurches in Los Angeles, California. A megachurch is a church with a congregation of at least five thousand members or one whose Sunday morning services has at least twenty-five hundred people in attendance. To illustrate how African American religious music traditions have been maintained and changed, I have documented and examined the musical styles preferred by members of three predominantly African American megachurches in metropolitan Los Angeles: First African Methodist Episcopal Church, West Angeles Church of God in Christ, and Faithful Central Bible Church.

Scholars have demonstrated that ethnic identity and the social realities of African Americans are often expressed in their music. As the conditions of Black life in America change, so does the music produced by African Americans, causing stylistic changes to be inevitable. However, there are times when stylistic changes are deliberately adopted to create an ideal environment or familiar atmosphere in a new context. The emergence of African American megachurches in cities across the country over the last thirty years has provided new contexts for African American Christian worship.

Through comparative analysis of the three congregations as well as a case study of the Faithful Central, I have: (1) delineated how Black megachurches are preserving older genres of African American sacred music (i.e. hymns, spirituals, classic gospel), (2) described the musical and non-musical factors that influence the music preferences of congregations, and (3) described the degree(s) to which some large urban congregations are adapting praise and worship to overcome the challenges to interactive and intimate worship.

To place these churches within the context of the historic Black Church tradition, I present information on African American sacred music, the gospel music community of Los Angeles, the megachurch movement and its growth among African American congregations, and the incorporation of contemporary Christian music's praise and worship music style in contemporary gospel. Building on ideas concerning musical change proposed by J. H. Kwabena Nketia, John Blacking, and others, my conceptual framework casts musical continuity over time alongside recent adaptations and adjustments in worship services.

Contesting the Mark of Criminality: Race, Place, and the Prerogative of Violence in N.W.A.'s *Straight Outta Compton*"

by Bryan McCann

Published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Forthcoming.

This essay reads rap group N.W.A.’s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton as a parodic enactment of the racialized... more This essay reads rap group N.W.A.’s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton as a parodic enactment of the racialized discourses of law and order during the late 1980s, or what I am calling the mark of criminality. Its release constituted a watershed moment in black popular culture that coincided with the devastating consequences of surveillance, containment, and spectacular scapegoating associated with Reagan-era crime control policies and rhetoric. I argue that the album and its reception by the law enforcement community of the late 1980s functioned as a confrontation over the meanings of race, place, and crime in the twentieth century. In addition to revealing the contingent meanings of criminality in popular and political culture, the legacy of Straight Outta Compton provides insights into the role of criminality in processes of social transformation.

Materializing Inequality: The Archaeology of Citizenship and Race In Early 20th Century Los Angeles

by Stacey Camp

(2009) Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, Department of Anthropology.

Consuming Citizenship? The Archaeology of Mexican Immigrant Ambivalence in Early 20th Century Los Angeles

by Stacey Camp

(2011) International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 15(3):305-328.

In late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, the consumption of American-made goods was seen as an... more In late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, the consumption of American-made goods was seen as an expression of one’s patriotism and loyalty to the nation. According to a number of historical archaeological case studies, racialized groups, such as African Americans and Chinese Americans, used consumption as a way of gaining access to the full benefits of American citizenship typically reserved for individuals deemed “white” by law. The material culture of Mexican immigrants living in early twentieth-century Los Angeles tells a slightly different tale. Despite being ascribed a legal whiteness, archaeological and documentary data suggest that Mexican immigrants expressed ambivalence toward their consumption of American goods and outright rejected the notion that exerting such buying power would lead to a broader acceptance in Anglo American society.

“Cutback: Skate and Punk at the Far End of the American Century”

by Mike Willard

Chapter in
Beth Bailey and David Farber, Eds.
America in the Seventies
University of Kansas Press, 2004

Los Angeles: tre immagini per la città del futuro

by Simone Tulumello

Published on Infolio, journal of the PhD in city and regional planning, Università di Palermo, n. 25, 2011

Own-your-owns, Co-ops, Town Houses: Hybrid Housing Types and the New Urban Form in Postwar Southern California

by Matthew Lasner

Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 68, no. 3 (Sept. 2009): 378-403

Ghost Tours as A Form of Alternative Tourism

by Kristine Keller

A paper written for Anth 424 last year, looking at ghost tours in Los Angeles from an anthropological perspective.  Unpublished.

Los Angeles, una ciudad outsider y outtimer

by Juan Pablo Serra

Published in Elena Farini (dir.), TIME AND CITIES, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, 2011, 142-145 (spanish version) and 146-147 (english version) [contribution to collective book]

A brief reflection on the odd and formless character of Los Angeles, a city with no center, no concrete boundaries, no... more A brief reflection on the odd and formless character of Los Angeles, a city with no center, no concrete boundaries, no chance of a panoramic glance and no living starting point. According to Bernard Henry-Lévy, an "illegible" city like this is also "a city without history". In this short paper I offer a positive argument to defend Los Angeles' historicity, which can be found in fiction, because both literature and cinema have made a wonderful job keeping up the memory of this town.

Los Angeles, a city out of space and… out of time?

by Juan Pablo Serra

Published in Elena Farini (dir.), TIME AND CITIES, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, 2011, 142-145 (spanish version) and 146-147 (english version) [contribution to collective book]

A brief reflection on the odd and formless character of Los Angeles, a city with no center, no concrete boundaries, no... more A brief reflection on the odd and formless character of Los Angeles, a city with no center, no concrete boundaries, no chance of a panoramic glance and no living starting point. According to Bernard Henry-Lévy, an "illegible" city like this is also "a city without history". In this short paper I offer a positive argument to defend Los Angeles' historicity, which can be found in fiction, because both literature and cinema have made a wonderful job keeping up the memory of this town.

Orange County Pest Control - How to get rid of Pests

by Steven Severn

Orange County Pest Control, Berrett Pest Control & Termite has given you the opportunity to do it yourself pest control, and if you still can't get it done.. Call Berrett Pest Control & Termite. We understand that Pest Control isn't always necessary. Our How to get rid of Section will provide you with some industry insights on how to get rid of your bug problem. www.berrettpestandtermitecontrol.com or www.berrettpestandtermitecontrol.com/how-to-get-rid-of

Headline: How To Get Rid Of Wasps

Background.
In 1975, the German yellowjacket first appeared in Ohio,... more Headline: How To Get Rid Of Wasps

Background.
In 1975, the German yellowjacket first appeared in Ohio, and has now become the dominant species over the eastern yellowjacket. It is bold and aggressive, and if provoked, it can sting repeatedly and painfully. It will mark aggressors, and will pursue them if provoked. The German yellowjacket builds its nests in cavities (not necessarily underground) with the peak worker population in temperate areas between 1,000 and 3,000 individuals between May to August. Only female Yellowjackets can sting to cause harm.

Species.
Yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps.”


How To Keep Wasps Out.
Preventative measures can be taken to keep Wasps out.
Keep foods, including pet food, covered or indoors.
Cover soda cans outdoors so wasps don’t crawl in.
Keep garbage in sealed cans and empty regularly.
Pick up and dispose of ripe fruit.

Professional Extermination Method.
Since wasps often nest in hard to reach areas our trained technicians use prescribed treatments in local areas and remove nests in hard to reach places. This treatment does not require any additional preparations on the customer’s part.

*Cited from UC Davis Integrated Pest Management Program & Wikipedia

Also learn how to get rid of: Rats, Bees, Bed Bugs, Earwigs, Ants, Spiders, Pillbugs, Cockroaches, Fleas, etc..

Musing on Emerson's Empire: An Homage

by Richard Kahn

Unpublished paper, 2006

Contradictions In California's Orientalist Landscape: Architecture, History and Spanish-Colonial Revival

by Albert Fu

Cities, Volume 28, Issue 4, August 2011, Pages 340-346

Although Spanish-Colonial Revival architecture and place-names dominates Southern California’s landscape, one also... more Although Spanish-Colonial Revival architecture and place-names dominates Southern California’s landscape, one also finds examples of simulated Middle Eastern bazaars, references to Ancient Egypt, and the use of iconography from non-European Old World. While the region’s landscape is arguably a product of bricolage and postmodern sensibilities, this article looks at the history of ‘Orientalism’ in Southern California’s built environment. In particular, I am looking at the precedents for this seemingly contradictory use of the ‘Oriental’ in the region. The ‘Oriental’ as a sinfully seductive means of creating spectacle in the built environment is both glorified and demonized in popular discourse. For example, the ‘Oriental’ is celebrated in shopping malls, but demonized culturally and politically. However, it is in this contradiction that we can see how history and ideology has shaped the vernacular landscape. As such, this article will look at early twentieth century examples of the ‘Oriental’ in Spanish-Colonial Revival as a foundation to understand contradictions in the built environment, culture, and racial hierarchies.