Beyond the city limits:comparison, global urbanism, and the Chicago School of Sociology

The so-called “Chicago School of Sociology” (CSS) was the dominant current of sociological thought during the first half of the 20th century, particularly associated with its then cutting-edge studies of urban life. Today, however, it is frequently held up as an example of unreflexive, Northern-centric thinking, that put forward universalist claims and theories about cities on the basis of parochial empirical experiences that focused on Chicago. The claims regarding the CSS's parochiality are linked to its intimate association with the notion of “the city as a social laboratory”, and Chicago more specifically. The cosmopolitanism and diversity of the CSS clearly informed their theorisation and ways of seeing the world. The CSS’ comparativism extended beyond looking at different geographical contexts and included an explicit concern with generating a range of concepts and ideas that they sought to experiment within different contexts in different ways.