Too often the term “ghetto” is simply applied to any African American community, to the  inner city as a whole, or recently to anything that is degraded or unrefined. But what is a ghetto? Does it arise organically from cities, or is it a consequence of social conflict and government policy? Are the banlieues, barrios, favelas, shantytowns, and slums of Europe, South America, and other continents similar to the American ghetto?

The Ghetto invites us to reexamine our assumptions by addressing these and other critical questions. Concise, original essays from top scholars around the world clearly describe essential arguments and discoveries, making the current discussion of marginalized urban spaces accessible for all readers and students of urban studies and sociology.