Chapter 3 approaches the question of urban diversity and belonging by considering the experience of a small, but distinctive group, the Jews. Through the settlement of Jews, several strands delineated in Chapter 2 are exemplified and considered: after 1000 there is notable migration from southern to northern Europe, where Jews were invited by rulers to settle and fulfil particular fiscal and commercial roles, under their protection. The concept of Jewish ‘servitude’ was useful here, as it helped define the relationship between rulers and Jewish communities under their protection. In the Iberian Peninsula, Jews were treated in this manner by Christian rulers alongside Muslims; and in central Europe they settled alongside hegemonic groups of German-speaking merchants into whose hands the kings of Poland and Hungary often entrusted urban governance. Jews were embedded in the city – protected and settled – but also retained marks of difference, in their religion, ritual language, and Jewish law courts. Sometimes they were even considered as citizens of sorts, although they could not wield judicial authority. Yet later centuries see political and commercial interests, and revivalist preachers, develop anti-Jewish narratives, negotiate expulsions, and occasionally encourage violence, like the horrific killings following the Black Death in German towns. Identity and belonging are tested in the case of Europe’s Jews.

Against the background of growth in the European economy and population after 1000, the rise of towns and their distinctive cultures is considered with all its creativity and its risks. A basic chronology and analysis of urban growth is provided, with attention to the differing experiences of Europe’s regions. Among the many tasks facing those who ruled urban centres was the question of membership: who was to be allowed into the city, and on what terms? Central to civic culture was the concept of the ‘common good’, which required newcomers to settle and fill the city’s needs. Such migration supplied townspeople with expert services (in law, finance, medicine, and governance), and it drew on newcomers marked by difference – of religion and language. Some of the underlying ideas and concepts are introduced in this chapter, based on studies of migration and urban life in the period under study, and in later ones too.

In Chapter 4 we see how Europe’s women were central to urban life: within their families, as workers in production and retail, and as members of parishes. Yet their opportunities were also curtailed, as they were denied the full enjoyment of civic life. The contours of such denial differed across Europe: in the north, women often enjoyed a sort of diminished citizenship, and in the south of France they were more visible in the courts of law. Yet, like Jews and others, they were a group apart in many ways, deemed unsuitable for the exercise of public authority, for their voices to be heard, or for their claims to be made in person in urban courts. Their agency is palpable within neighbourhoods, in the running of workshops, and in the support of family businesses, especially in widowhood. They were creative in forging religious lifestyles even against parental choices and social conventions. But, like ‘strangers’, they were vulnerable too, forced to be dependent in many ways. Like all social interactions, theirs varied by class and age, but it is useful nonetheless to recognise that strangerhood can be experienced even within the town of one’s birth, the place called home.

This chapter explores the pathways by which migration was ordered and newcomers allowed to settle in Europe’s regions. It begins with dynastic polities, where rulers habitually gave privileges to favoured groups, and ordered group migration following conquests. It then considers the policies developed in cities whose relative autonomy meant they were able to attempt the regulation of entry and exit. As in other areas of urban life, they used local legislation in the form of statutes as their tool. These resulted from deliberation in councils and by urban officials, sometimes assisted by legal experts. They developed rules that aimed to keep strangers out, unless they sought to settle and could prove their use and probity. All this took place in a period of economic growth and opportunity. Throughout the fourteenth century circumstances changed, and after the Black Death (1347–51), many regions and cities were left depopulated – needing newcomers – but also economically diminished, and hence more suspicious of them. The long-term arc sees strangers become neighbours, and a reversal in civic confidence, which led to erratic policies and often to exclusionary legislation.

We summarize the main findings of the book.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization leads at first to secular rates of social mobility. Who benefits and how this occurs. The slow change to circular mobility and the blockages to social ascent are examined.

How Brazil changed from a high fertility and high mortality regime to one of low fertility and low mortality after 1960, both nationally and by major regions.

Demographic Transition and its impact on marriage, family size, and economically active rates of women in the workforce.

Introduction to themes dealt with in the book and its organization.

How Brazil created a modern welfare state, especially after 1964s. The evolution of uncompensated income transfers from the 1990s to today and their impact on poverty rates.

We analyze the economic policies of both democratic and military governments and the role of Import Substitution policies used to promote industrialization. We also explain the military intervention.

We study the “third power” and the expansion of voluntary organizations and NGOs in Brazil since 1985, when a major expansion occurred. How these national and international organizations work and their relation to society and the state.

How race affects one’s place in Brazilian society is examined in detail, and the gap between whites and others is studied over time and by region.