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University of California Press

City on the Edge

The Transformation of Miami
by Alejandro Portes (Author), Alex Stepick (Author)
Paperback
Price: $31.95 / £27.00
Publication Date: Sep 1993
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780520089327
Trim Size: 6 x 9
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About the Book

Winner, 1995 American Sociological Association Robert E. Park Award?

Projecting fantasies of wealth and excess, Miami, "America's Riviera," occupies a unique place in our national imagination. Uncovering the hidden story of this dreamlike place, Portes and Stepick explore the transformations of Miami from a light-hearted tourist resort to a troubled, complex city.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 
List of Tables 
Preface 
Acknowledgments 
1. Change Without a Blueprint 
2. A Year to Remember: Mariel 
3. A Year to Remember: The Riot and the Haitians 
4. The Early Years 
5. Enter the Cubans 
6. How the Enclave Was Built 
7. A Repeat Performance? The Nicaraguan Exodus 
8. Lost in the Fray: Miami's Black Minorities 
9. Reprise 
Postscript: In the Eye of the Storm 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Index

Reviews

“Through demographic data, newspaper articles, interviews with black, Jewish, Anglo, Cuban and Nicaraguan leaders, and their own research, the authors reveal how the Cuban success story has transformed the character of Miami while delineating more sharply the identity of other ethnic communities.” 
— New York Times Book Review
“Makes a case for the importance of political capital . . . . in building ethnic solidarity.”
— Contemporary Sociology
"This book belongs in the hands of everyone who cares deeply about South Florida's future." 
— Miami Herald

Awards

  • Robert E. Park Award for the best book in Urban and Community Sociology 1995, American Sociological Association
  • First winner of the Anthony Leeds Book Prize 1995, Society for Urban Anthropology
  • Princess of Asturias Prize in the Social Sciences 2019 2019, Spanish Crown