Wikipedia

City Journal

Not to be confused with City (journal) or Cities (journal).

City Journal is a public policy magazine and website, published by the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research think tank, that covers a range of topics on urban affairs, such as policing, education, housing, and other issues.[2]: 349  The magazine also publishes articles on arts and culture, urban architecture, family culture, and other topics.[3][4] The magazine began publishing in 1990.[1][5]

City Journal
Cover of the 25th anniversary issue released in Autumn 2015.
EditorBrian C. Anderson
CategoriesUrban policy, political science, culture
FrequencyQuarterly
PublisherManhattan Institute for Policy Research
Founded1990; 34 years ago (1990)
First issueAutumn 1990[1]
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City, New York
Websitewww.city-journal.org
ISSN1060-8540
OCLC25172204

History

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City Journal was founded in 1990 by Richard Vigilante, editorial director of the Manhattan Institute, who also served as the magazine's first editor. Vigilante originally sought to launch the magazine as a for profit venture but eventually persuaded William M. H. Hammett, head of the conservative Manhattan Institute.[2]: 349  to adopt the project. Vigilante positioned City Journal as a more moderate and more cosmopolitan alternative to established right-wing institutions.[2]: 349  The magazine initially published articles promoting privatization, fiscal discipline, government downsizing, and educational vouchers.[2]: 349  Other New York-related topics covered in the magazine included criticisms of open admissions at CUNY, and the promotion of broken-windows policing.[2]: 349–350 

2020s

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During the early 2020s, City Journal has attracted widespread national attention for its role in elevating debates on critical race theory, LGBTQ+ topics in education, and similar issues in the United States.[6][7][8] Contributor Christopher Rufo, in particular, has drawn attention for writing numerous pieces in the magazine that often focus on these matters. In articles published by City Journal, Rufo has accused Seattle's Office of Civil Rights of "endorsing principles of segregationism, group-based guilt, and race essentialism";[6] highlighted Disney and Twitter workers who have been convicted of child sexual abuse;[7] suggested that there were significant levels of 'grooming' in public schools" while omitting that he study he cited concluded that the "vast majority" of American schools are safe,[7] accused a California curriculum designer of wanting to make children "chant to the gods Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totek"[8] —the State of California later paid $100,000 in legal fees and agreed to delete the Aztec god chants;[9][10] and compared the diversity training conducted by the city of Seattle to "cult programming".[8]

Publication

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The magazine is published by the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research[1][11] a national free-market think tank based in New York City. It was edited by Richard Vigilante and then Fred Siegel in the early 1990s. Myron Magnet, its editor from 1994 to 2006, is now editor-at-large. City Journal's current editor is Brian C. Anderson, who was appointed in late 2006 after serving as senior editor for 10 years.[11] The journal's contributors include experts such as Senior Fellow Heather Mac Donald, Edward Glaeser, Steven Malanga, Nicole Gelinas, Kay Hymowitz, John Tierney, and Joel Kotkin. Although City Journal is based in New York City, its scope is national and often international, through the contributions of writers including Theodore Dalrymple from Britain, Claire Berlinski and Guy Sorman from France, and Bruce Bawer in Norway.

Reception

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Much of the reception of City Journal over the years has been divided along political lines.

Conservative commentator Jay Nordlinger, writing in National Review, called City Journal "a beacon of civilization".[5] In 2016, City Journal ranked second in The Global Grid's "Top 20 Urban Planning Websites",[12] and again made the list in 2017, ranked fourth.[13]

Alice O'Connor, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has written that City Journal is "hardly a model of ideological moderation", and that its contributors are "enmeshed in 1960s- and 1970s-era urbanology".[2]: 349  She has criticized multiple writers for City Journal for reviving a "relentlessly negative image of black cultural pathology to call for tougher measures to crack down on out-of-wedlock births", following articles praising Daniel P. Moynihan's The Negro Family: The Case For National Action.[2]: 349  Conservative author Sol Stern, a major contributor for the magazine since its inception,[2]: 349  published a piece in liberal journal Democracy in 2020, accusing City Journal of removing contributors' editorial independence, and criticized the association of magazine trustee Rebekah Mercer with the alt-right outlet Breitbart.[14]

Notable contributors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Friedersdorf, Conor (June 1, 2010). "Saving the City: An Interview With Brian Anderson". The Atlantic.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h O'Connor, Alice (January 2008). "The Privatized City: The Manhattan Institute, the Urban Crisis, and the Conservative Counterrevolution in New York". Journal of Urban History. 34 (2): 333–353. doi:10.1177/0096144207308672. ISSN 0096-1442. S2CID 146719696.
  3. ^ "City Journal". City Journal. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "City Journal". Manhattan Institute. January 6, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Nordlinger, Jay (November 8, 2015). "A Beacon of Civilization". National Review.
  6. ^ a b Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (June 18, 2021). "How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Gabriel, Trip (April 24, 2022). "He Fuels the Right's Cultural Fires (and Spreads Them to Florida)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Jones, Sarah (July 11, 2021). "How to Manufacture a Moral Panic". Intelligencer. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  9. ^ Kristen Taketa (18 January 2022). "California to remove Mayan affirmation from ethnic studies after lawsuit argues it's a prayer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 July 2023. The model curriculum also included a longer chant based on In Lak'Ech and the Aztec concept of Nahui Ollin, also called the Four Movements. Nahui Ollin involves four concepts — self-reflection, knowledge, action and transformation — which are represented by the names of four Aztec gods. The chant also includes the name of a fifth Aztec god.
  10. ^ KRISTEN TAKETA (18 January 2022). "Calif. will delete popular affirmation from ethnic studies after suit claims it's an Aztec prayer". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  11. ^ a b "The Manhattan Institute celebrates City Journal's 20th anniversary". Manhattan Institute. 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  12. ^ Essbai, Sarah (December 1, 2016). "Top 20 Urban Planning Websites of 2016". The Global Grid.
  13. ^ Essbai, Sarah (October 18, 2017). "Top 20 Urban Planning Websites of 2017". The Global Grid.
  14. ^ Sol, Stern (July 7, 2020). "Think Tank in the Tank". Democracy. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
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