Neighbourhood organizations and the welfare state

According to Hasson and Ley, the protest movements of the 1960s began a new era of urban politics evident today in the range and diversity of neighbourhood organizations. In this comparative study, the authors identify and explore four distinct types of neighbourhood organizations by pairing four neighbourhoods in Vancouver with four in Jerusalem. Each organizational type represents a different phase of the emergent welfare state and each is characterized by its distinctive ideologies, strategies, and relations with government. Hasson and Ley argue that political geography at the neighbourhood level is both diverse and complex, but that it does follow identifiable patterns. The four typologies presented are ratepayers' groups, paternalistic associations, protest organizations, and groups characterized by cooperative ventures with the state. Canada and Israel provide ideal comparative settings. Both are relatively new nations absorbing large immigrant populations and both are engaged in building welfare states within democratic/capitalist frameworks. At the same time, their obvious differences foreground the roles of culture, national history, and personal leadership in the formation of neighbourhood organizations. The authors draw on interviews and documentation to present a detailed case study of each neighbourhood organization, exploring its history, individual characteristics, impact on urban life, and interaction with the state. This rich and complex study offers basic reading for urbanists, community planners, and social and political scientists. The authors provide a detailed review of relevant literature and make a strong contribution to both theory and fieldwork in their discipline.