Chapter Guide

These readings provide an opportunity to investigate the local shopping mall and how it works, or doesn't work, in the community. Students will learn about how shopping has changed historically and have the opportunity to consider the possible reasons for the architectural design of their neighborhood mall as the subject is explored from a range of different discipline perspectives.

This section opens with James J. Farrell's "Shopping for American Culture," which makes a connection between American culture and what goes on at the mall. Laura Paquet then traces shopping activities from the classical period to the present and Richard Francaviglia points out similarities between Walt Disney's 1950s Main Street and modern shopping malls.

Next, the question of whether the original 1960s ideals of the shopping mall have been achieved or nor are considered. Victor Gruen, in "Shopping Towns USA," presents his vision for the mall. Thirty-three years later, David Guterson in "Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: One Week at the Mall of America," offers another assessment as he eyes the opening of The Mall of America. In contrast, Ira Zepp finds optimism as he argues that the mall serves a role similar to that of churches.

The next two readings ask if the mall builds a sense of community as Lizabeth Cohen's historical study of malls, "From Town Center to Shopping Center," finds evidence of class and racial segregation and a loss of true public space. Cohen's findings are developed further in sociologist George Lewis' "Community Through Exclusion and Illusion" where he considers the distinction between manufactured communities and people's actual socializing behavior. The section is concluded with a humorous essay by William Kowinski, "Mallaise: How to Know If You Have It."