Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City

"Some places are immensely symbolic of economic or political power. One such place, the 'City' in London, has long represented the world of international finance both as objectification (the City 'says this') of that world and as the seat of numerous banking, stockbroking and insurance firms. Lacking has been much attention to the cultural practices upon which this material and symbolic power of place is based. Through the lens provided by the gendered character of workplace relations Linda McDowell throws light on the ways in which the City works. No longer dominated by the stuffy image of bowlers and brollies, the City nevertheless is still hostile territory for those whose identities (including many women) are marginalized by the implicit masculinity of City ways. This is a brilliant book, showing the possibilities for theoretically-informed fieldwork on cultural practices at a time when some despair that fieldwork can reveal much of anything." John Agnew, University of California, Los Angeles

"In a short review of this type it is impossible to do full justice to such a rich and thought provoking book." Rob Atkinson, Capital and Class

"This book deserves a wide audience: students of the service sector should find McDowell's theoretical and conceptual insights about this topic useful; students of gender and work will encounter a carefully drawn case study of how gender distinctions are constructed and reproduced on the job. Finally, those interested in cultivating links between their sociological and geographical imaginations will find that Capital Culture can help them to achieve this goal." Amy S. Wharton, Washington State University.
" I cannot recommend this text highly enough. it has everything: theory linking gender relations with power and work; analysis of city gendered life; rich empirical material taken from fieldwork in merchant banking; and, many thought provoking views on macsulinity and feminity." Bob Bushaway, University of Birmingham