City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the perfect research subject for ideologues. The city is so complex and so diverse that an observer can look at it and find evidence to support virtually any political agenda. So it should be no surprise that when the Marxist writer Mike Davis looks at Los Angeles, he sees… a powerful and corrupt political establishment that aims to preserve the status quo and oppress poor minorities. For this reason, if you are new to the subject I don’t recommend starting with Davis’s book City of Quartz (instead, read anything by Kevin Starr). However, if you are already familiar with the city’s history and are looking for an alternative perspective, Davis's book provides useful details on the L.A. power structure and the city’s developer-led history of urban planning.