Philadelphia: The City

The first article in a series highlighting ASA’s upcoming 2005 centennial meeting in Philadelphia

Noted urban historian Sam Bass Warner once called Philadelphia a private city. He meant primarily to emphasize, without using the word, the capitalism that aligns Philadelphia with every other American city. But his phrase also captured a certain secretiveness that distinguishes Philadelphia from most other American cities.

Philadelphians have never quite gotten the hang of the assertive civic boosterism that seems so imperative elsewhere. They have never been so pathetically provincial as to suppose themselves the Hub of the Universe. They have never even been so bent on braggadocio as to proclaim themselves pridefully the Second City.

At this time 100 years ago . . . the New York City underground subway system was opened, and the next year the American Sociological Society made its not so underground movement more official with its first Annual Meeting and a membership of 115 (1906).

Social scientists, including numerous sociologists, will unite in defense of national security. The University of Maryland-College Park was named in January as the home for a major Department of Homeland Security (DHS) social and behavioral research center dedicated to reducing terrorism worldwide. The center’s three main working groups will focus on the origins of terrorist groups, the dynamics of terrorist groups, and a group examining societal issues associated with terrorism in the United States.