- Branche: Printing & publishing
- Number of terms: 1330
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Routledge is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the humanities and social sciences.
A dynamic architectural and planning movement, taking strength since the 1980s, that fights sprawl through designs that favor pedestrian interaction, mixtures of diverse residential and commercial uses, elegant public spaces, environmental sensitivity and the “neo-traditional” ambience of American small towns. Championed by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk of Miami, FL, the primary completed projects are the 1982 Seaside, Florida (seen in the 1998 Truman Show) and Kentlands, Maryland—both relatively elite suburban developments. New Urbanism, nonetheless, has been championed subsequently as a formula to rebuild community in inner cities as well, although its costs and assumptions about design shaping behavior have been called into question.
Industry:Culture
A favorite destination for visitors since its founding in 1682, modern Philadelphia— America’s fifth-largest urban center—forms the hub of a regional intersection embracing southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware, encompassing some 5 million people (about 1.5 million of whom live in the city itself). Situated on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, the “City of Brotherly Love” was the seat of a colony which its founder, British Quaker gentleman William Penn, envisioned as a model “holy experiment” in democratic government. The Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution were crafted here; the area where these documents were written continues to be a major tourist attraction. Modern Philadelphia, nonetheless, struggles with rustbelt dilemmas of disappearing industry divided and sometimes decaying neighborhoods, race and class divisions, crime, poverty homelessness and drugs.
The city quickly became cosmopolitan. By 1800 there were numerous neighborhoods and institutions to support its great diversity: Swedes, Dutch, Germans, British, African Americans, American Indians, Catholics, Jews and a variety of Protestants formed churches, community organizations and commercial enterprises suited to their specific needs. By 1750 a college, theater and lending library were among the city’s many attractions; by 1825 museums, historical societies and scientific organizations, as well as insurance and banking institutions provided the foundation for technological and intellectual leadership. Shipbuilding, dating from the city’s beginning, was joined in the nineteenth century by factories to build railroad cars and automobile parts and fuel refineries. By the mid-twentieth century textiles, steel, beer, cigars and heavy machinery were among the goods exported from the thriving port to national and international destinations. The 1950s, however, saw the steady decline in maritime trade, as distribution by truck and air made it attractive for factories to relocate to where warmer weather and non-union labor reduced production costs.
Since 1950, aggressive urban planning has revived the economy somewhat and the population decline of the 1970s has slowed. The city whose bonds hit junk status in 1990, has revitalized Center City under Mayor Ed Rendell, while the Delaware River waterfront has been developed for recreation. The region also seeks to become a center of international investing and biotechnical development. Scores of colleges and universities (including Temple and the University of Pennsylvania), six medical schools, more than four dozen public library branches, hundreds of public schools and private schools—education has been a hotly debated issue in local politics—have helped to provide a base for the area’s uncertain and uneven transition from an industrial base to the information age.
Philadelphia is also noted for diverse contributions to American culture—from the television classic American Bandstand, to the “76-ers” basketball team or baseball’s Phillies, to the worldrenowned orchestra, museums and numerous musicians, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs. Its media image, however, is complex, as evidenced in differences between movies portraying upper-class romance (The Philadelphia Story, 1940; Young Philadelphians, 1959), the urbane AIDS issues of Philadelphia (1993) and the nightmarish future of Twelve Monkeys (1995).
Frequently described as “the city of homes,” or the “city of neighborhoods,” Philadelphia is notable for its architecturally human scale, having few tall buildings outside the city center. Instead, many neighborhoods of modestly priced brick or stone row houses cluster near the Fairmount Park system, which covers 10 percent of the city— the largest contiguous city park in the world. This neighborhood network is serviced by an intricate public transportation system, including trolleys, subways and regional railroads like the Main Line linking it with suburbs.
Philadelphia politics have always been complex, with ethnicity, race and class often leading to tension and rioting around elections, through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Perhaps a low point was reached in 1985 when a black mayor, Wilson Goode, bombed the headquarters of the radical group MOVE, burning nearby African American homes as well. Nonetheless, the city has been a leader in social-service development, from early hospitals, orphanages and social-work schools to women’s banks, community colleges and AIDS support networks. In the 1990s, the diverse population, which is approximately 50 percent white and 40 percent African American, has built neighborhoods representative of virtually every country in the world. Despite the blemishes and challenges common to aging cities, the city remains vigorous.
Philadelphia has been the subject of classic historical and sociological studies from W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Philadelphia Negro (1899) to many present-day studies.
Industry:Culture
A form of unlawful sex discrimination at work primarily perpetrated by men against women. First recognized by the US Supreme Court in 1986. Defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Two forms of harassment are recognized: quid pro quo, where submission to sexual demands is an explicit or implicit employment condition; and hostile work environment, where harassment unreasonably interferes with work performance and creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. Same-sex harassment (including that of men) was eventually recognized as a valid legal claim as well.
Industry:Culture
A general term for denying membership or employment, but used specifically with reference to Hollywood’s collaboration with Cold War paranoia. Pressured by the House Un-American Activities Committee, the American Legion and McCarthyism, studios denied employment to those who had even vague associations with “communist-front” organizations. This dark era, spurred by House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigations in the later 1940s, produced both heroes and collaborators as actors confessed publicly and implicated colleagues. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Ten who refused to speak in 1948, including director Edward Dymytrk (who collaborated in a second investigation in 1951) and screenwriters Alvah Bessie, Ring Lardner, Jr. and Dalton Trumbo, were jailed for contempt of Congress. Later investigations ruined more actors, writers and directors; some, like Jules Dassin, were forced to move to Europe, others retired or fled, while some eked out a living writing covertly for others. While the blacklist faded by the end of the decade, scars lingered in individual lives and political divisions of Hollywood—decades later people protested a 1999 Academy Award recognition of Elia Kazan. who had “named names” before HUAC.
Industry:Culture
A herbicide and defoliant used by US forces in Vietnam to remove leaves from trees that provided cover for North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces. Named for the orange stripe on the fifty-five-gallon drums in which it was stored, Agent Orange included traces of a dioxin, known to cause a variety of health problems and congenital deformities. Prostate cancer, spina bifida, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and respiratory cancers are a few of the diseases linked to the chemical put out by Monsanto Corporation (which covered up information about the dioxin contamination in the product). Several thousand Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange receive treatment from the Veteran’s Administration hospitals; the Vietnamese on whom the chemical was dropped have not received compensation of any kind.
Industry:Culture
A legal proceeding (commonly known as “Chapter 11”) in which insolvent individuals or businesses are adjudged incapable of repaying debts, and their remaining assets are allocated for equitable distribution to creditors or reorganized for continued operation.
Debtors are freed from most liabilities. The opportunity for a fresh start harmonizes with the American sense of fairness and compassion for those who have unwittingly fallen on hard times. Since the Constitution grants exclusive bankruptcy jurisdiction to Congress, it is subject to continuous, national political scrutiny from competing interest groups seeking, for example, to preserve protection for spendthrift consumers while limiting misuse by businesses and the wealthy At the end of the century bankruptcy proceedings are less socially stigmatized than ever before for both individuals and corporations who have encumbered debts within constant affluence and seeming opportunities of economic growth.
Industry:Culture
A machine to cool, dehumidify and circulate air was invented in 1902 by Willis Carrier of Brooklyn. Its impact expanded with compressors in the 1930s and window units in the 1950s. Yet while these technological advances slowly became global, their impact on American society remains crucial. After the Second World War, air conditioning facilitated life in humid regions like the South and South-west for new immigrants and regularized production and services (the earliest uses of air-conditioning in the South were in industry). Beyond this nascent Sunbelt, year-round climate control also changed architecture, although risking the “sick building syndrome” in which diseases are recirculated through an air system. It has also altered relations with the environment, especially as life has become encapsulated in air-conditioned homes (or rooms), cars and offices: New Urbanism, for example, re-establishes the porch and street interactions in opposition to this technological climate.
Industry:Culture
A nation of immigrants might be expected to manifest considerable fragmentation and widespread expression of ethnic or regional loyalties, rather than vociferous declarations of love of country; however, this has not been so. Social elites in the United States have often “incorporated” notions of “Americanness” to establish their own legitimacy and have used their understanding of patriotism to attempt to either reshape or restrict immigration. For African Americans and other immigrants, then, patriotism has been both a vehicle aiding advancement or an obstacle placed in their way In times of war (including the Cold War), members of many ethnic groups along with African Americans showed their loyalty to the United States through service in the armed forces.
Groups might also use patriotism to distinguish themselves from others who do not belong to the dominant white culture. Yet patriotism can also promote more inclusive social change. Thus, a Civil Rights movement is patriotic because it strives to help Americans reach their “highest ideals.” In recent years, debates swirling around issues of patriotism have both intensified and become confused. The lack of clear-cut enemies after the Cold War and increased globalization have confused obvious identification with the nation. Instabilities resulting from such developments, however, have led to the use of patriotism to justify nativist backlashes against immigrants, demands for protection and opposition to NAFTA (particularly from the AFL-CIO) and increased hostility towards the World Trade Organization. US involvement in wars from the Reagan administration to the present has also intensified patriotic fervor, spilling over into the demand (particularly from Republican politicians and especially loud during the Gulf War) for a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag.
Industry:Culture
A nicer way of saying “lay-offs,” emphasizing corporate/stockholder health and competition rather than the human cost of lost jobs, even within an expanding economy Downsizing has been touted as a way of producing leaner and meaner companies with higher profits; these layoffs since the 1980s have undercut both community stability (with plant closure) and the security of middle-class executives and their families.
Industry:Culture
A patch of well-tended and mown grass in front of the house became the ornament of American homes after the Civil War—present even in cities, but reaching new dimensions in suburban development. While they might evoke manor houses and their meadows, lawns tend to be smaller, providing a setback from the street that shapes a characteristic American urban geography. Lawns may be landscaped with trees, bushes and ornaments, but are often left connected (in front) as a green plain along the street.
Backyards have been more private recreational and work areas, although they may interconnect in suburban developments. The lawn has also demanded technological responses ranging from lawnmowers—push, powered and riding—to chemicals and irrigation which permit lawns in deserts and seashore areas, although at the expense of environmental degradation.
Industry:Culture
