An investigation of the process of globalization in the context of Istanbul, usually identified as a battleground between East and West, Islam and secularism. Yet the authors argue that beyond this lies an ongoing struggle over the soul of the city and the identity of its inhabitants.

This groundbreaking volume investigates the processes of globalization in Istanbul, one of the oldest and grandest of world cities. Explaining the course of the conflicts and the compromises involved in maintaining a precarious urbanity, this theoretically informed volume focuses on the fields of struggle ranging from politics to heritage, humor to music, public space to housing.