Triumph Of Order

In an effort to create a secure urban environment in which residents can work, live, and prosper with minimal disruption, New York and London established a network of laws, policing, and municipal government in the nineteenth century aimed at building the confidence of the citizenry and creating stability for economic growth. At the same time, these two cities attempted to maintain an expansive level of free speech and assembly. Yet as democracy expanded in tandem with the size of the cities themselves, the two goals clashed, resulting in tensions over their compatibility. Treating nineteenth-century London and New York as case studies, Lisa Keller examines the development of sanctioned free speech, controlled public assembly, new urban regulations, and the quelling of riots, all in the name of a proper regard for order. Drawing on rich archival sources, Keller paints an intimate portrait of daily life in these cities and the intricacies of their emerging bureaucracies. She finds that New York eventually settled on a policy of preempting disruption before it occurred, while London chose a path of greater tolerance toward street activities. Keller concludes with an assessment of freedom in New York and London today and asks whether the scales have been tipped too strongly in favor of order and control.