Infrastructures of Decolonization: Scales of Worldmaking in the Writings of Frantz Fanon

2021 ◽  
pp. 009059172110091
Author(s):  
Begüm Adalet
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Frantz Fanon ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Nation State ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Ways Of Being ◽  
Scalar Analysis ◽  
Economic Institution

Political theorists are increasingly drawn to the recovery of anticolonial thinkers as global figures. Frantz Fanon is largely excluded from these discussions because of his presumed commitment to the nation-state and its territorialist assumptions. This essay claims, by contrast, that Fanon’s writings reveal an alternative way of thinking about worldmaking, less as a question of political and economic institution-building spearheaded by leaders than as a multiscalar project that permeates the production of the built environment and the creation of selves. I show how Fanon challenges the dichotomy between the global and the national by seeking to transform not just the national scale in relation to the international, but also the corporeal, urban, rural, and regional scales of an imperially configured world. In order to read Fanon as a scalar thinker and to highlight aspects of his thought that have been relatively neglected, I draw on concepts from geography, and specifically scalar analysis, which, I demonstrate, allows political theorists to develop a richer understanding of the operations of power in colonial contexts and how they can be restructured to inaugurate more liberated ways of being human.

The Missing Dimension in the Built Environment: A Challenge for the 21st Century

1990 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Leo R. Zrudlo
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Modern Architecture ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
The Creation ◽  
City Design

This article addresses architects, planners, and developers but should also interest any other professionals involved in the creation of the built environment. It begins by stating that the built environment is principally made up of buildings and groupings of buildings. Therefore, architecture and urban design are the major focus of the article. Definitions of architecture are then presented from a variety of authors and architects. An argument is made that there actually is a missing dimension in the built environment illustrated by quotations from architects, architectural theorists, amid critics. It becomes evident that architecture is unable to satisfy the emotional and aesthetic needs of people and also that the profession itself, which admits that modern architecture has created bleak and insensitive environments, is in profound disagreement on how to rectify the situation. Under the heading “Architecture–The Object” arguments for and against different architectural movements or stylistic tendencies are highlighted by quotations from the proponents of tile various styles and theories. A similar approach is taken for cities under the heading “Urban Design–The Juxtaposition of Objects.” The fact that something is missing from architectural and city design is concluded, and examples of a preoccupation for the spiritual aspect of architecture and urban design are used to illustrate this growing concern for a dimension that has been much neglected in tile previous several decades. The notion of “spiritual” is then defined, followed by a list of spiritual qualities. Two important principles, unity in diversity and consultation are discussed before presenting some concluding thoughts on how the designers of the built environment can begin finding ways of infusing their designs with a spiritual dimension.

1830: van de Belgische protonatie naar de natiestaat (deel 1)

2007 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-227
Author(s):  
Lode Wils
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Final Phase ◽  
Nineteen Twenties ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
The North ◽  
Binding Factor ◽  
Southern Netherlands ◽  
The Creation

In dit eerste deel van zijn uiteenzetting poneert Lode Wils de door zijn bronnen onderbouwde stelling dat het ontstaan van de Belgische (natie)staat de feitelijke slotfase was van een passage van de protonatie(s) in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden doorheen de grote politiek-maatschappelijke en culturele mutaties na de Franse Revolutie. Een passage die tijdens de late twintiger jaren van de negentiende eeuw bovendien sterk gekruid werd door het Belgisch 'wij'-denken dat meer en meer het cement ging vormen in de parlementaire en buitenparlementaire contestatie tegen het Hollandse regime.Wils verbindt in zijn uiteenzetting zijn eigen onderzoek omtrent de "cruciale parlementaire debatten in de jaren 1827-1830" aan zijn lectuur van de wetenschappelijke literatuur die zowel in het Noorden als in het Zuiden werd gewijd aan die problematiek, in bijzonderheid de doctoraalstudie L’invention de la Belgique. Genèse d’un Etat-Nation. 1648-1830 van de UCL-historiograaf Sébastien Dubois. Betekenisvol is overigens de frase van Wils waarin hij stelt dat Dubois zich "na het doorworstelen van bijna 2000 archiefbundels, ergert aan de voorstelling alsof niet het koninkrijk, maar 'België' geschapen werd in 1830."________1830: from the Belgian pre-nation to the nation state [part I]In this first part of his discourse Lode Wils puts forward the thesis corroborated by his sources that the creation of the Belgian (nation)state was in fact the final phase of a transition from the pre-nation(s) of the Southern Netherlands through the major socio-political and cultural mutations after the French Revolution. During the late nineteen twenties this transition was particularly marked by the Belgian “we-thinking” that gradually came to be the binding factor in the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary protest against the Dutch regime.  In his argument Wils connects his own research into the “crucial parliamentary debates during the period of 1827-1830” to his reading of the scientific literature, which was dedicated to that issue both in the North and in the South, in particular to the doctoral dissertation by the UCL historiographer Sébastien Dubois L’invention de la Belgique. Genèse d’un Etat-Nation. 1648-1830  (The invention of Belgium. Genesis of a Nation State: 1648-1830). We note in particular Will’s remark that Dubois “after having waded through almost 2000 archival volumes is irritated by the conception that 1830 saw the creation not of the kingdom but of ‘Belgium’.”

Re-Mapping the Nation: Cartography, Geographical Knowledge and Ecuadorean Multiculturalism

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
SARAH A. RADCLIFFE
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Nation State ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Geographical Knowledge ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Entire Nation ◽  
State Projects

AbstractStarting from an understanding that maps of an entire nation-state territory reflect and regulate state projects and expressions of national identity, rather than providing detailed technical information for decision making, this paper examines the national maps of race/ethnicity produced under Ecuador's state-led multiculturalism. Using national-scale cartography as a means to examine contested processes of rearticulating state, citizen and nation, the paper analyses recent transformations in cartography, nation building and geographical knowledge in Ecuador. Directing a critical analysis towards the ways maps of indigenous populations are produced, circulated, authorised and read provides a distinctive lens by which to explore postcolonial questions of belonging, rights and presence. The paper discusses how, despite the emergence of innovative maps, the plurinational project envisaged by indigenous cartographers remains stymied by a series of material, cultural and postcolonial limitations.

From the Margins to Centre Stage: ‘Indian’ Demonstration Effects in Malaysia’s Political Landscape

Urban Studies ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1257-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Bunnell ◽  
S. Nagarajan ◽  
Andrew Willford
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Racial Differentiation

This paper traces senses of injustice among Indian Malaysians which found expression in the ‘illegal’ Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur in 2007. While underlying ethnic and racial differentiation has been rendered through law in the post-colonial nation-state, the focus here is on a specific locality: resettlement flats for Indians displaced for the construction of Malaysia’s federal government administrative centre, Putrajaya. Ex-plantation workers are shown to be symbolically peripheral (to the spectacular ‘national landscape’ of Putrajaya) and to have experienced everyday forms of ethnicised marginalisation. The rally in the commercial heart of Kuala Lumpur—involving tens of thousands of Indian Malaysians from across peninsular Malaysia—mobilised what were previously largely localised grievances such as those associated with the Putrajaya estate evictions. It is shown how this ethnic transgression not only contests the ‘second-class’ position of Indians in Malaysia, but may also contribute to a redrawing of the ethnic contours of Malaysia’s legal and political landscape. More broadly, the Hindraf events also serve as a reminder that rights and social justice claims expressed in key urban centres continue to have important national-scale dimensions, even in an ostensibly neo-liberalised global economy.

scholarly journals A National-Scale Assessment of Population and Built-Environment Exposure in Tsunami Evacuation Zones

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Ryan Paulik ◽  
Heather Craig ◽  
Benjamin Popovich
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Risk Model ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Transport Network ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Scale Assessment ◽  
Environment Exposure

Evacuation zones are a critical tool for mitigating loss of life in tsunami events. In New Zealand, tsunami evacuation zones are implemented by emergency management agencies at regional or sub-regional scales, providing national coverage for populated coastlines at risk to tsunami inundation. In this study, we apply the exposure component of a risk model framework (RiskScape) to deliver a first national-scale assessment of New Zealand’s population and built-environment exposure in tsunami evacuation zones. Usually-resident populations, buildings, land and transport network components are identified at an asset level and enumerated at national and regional scales. Evacuation zones are occupied by just under 10% of New Zealand’s population, residing in 399,000 residential buildings. These are supported by a further 5400 critical buildings and 6300 km of road transport network. Approximately 40% of exposed populations and buildings occupy evacuation zones expected to be inundated once every 500 years. This includes over 150,000 people in highly vulnerable age groups, i.e., children and elderly. The complex arrangement of built environments highlights a need for disaster risk managers to proactively identify and prepare populations for evacuation based on their vulnerability to harm from tsunami and ability to access resources for recovery after the event.

scholarly journals Economics, Politics, and Ethnicity in Balochistan's Transport Industry

1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (4II) ◽  
pp. 619-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Titus
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The State ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Distribution Of Wealth ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Transport Industry ◽  
The Creation

Because of its potential to disrupt economic development, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of ethnic conflict in the contemporary world. A prevalent trend in the study of ethnicity is to focus on the creation and/or maintenance of ethnic identities and mobilisation on the basis of those identities as groups compete for resources, opportunities, or political power in the context of the nation-state [Barth (1969); Brass (1985); Comaroff (1987); Mumtaz (1990)]. In this approach, an ethnic group's distinguishing markers-language, custom, dress, etc.-are treated less as manifestations of tradition which define or create the group and more as arenas of negotiation and contestation in which people strive to realise their practical and symbolic interests. This happens as individuals or families, pursuing their livelihoods with the skills and resources available to them, find (or create) opportunities or obstacles which appear to be based on' ethnic criteria. The state can intensify this process as it uses positive or negative discrimination in order to achieve some desired distribution of wealth and opportunity. In turn, political leadership becomes a key in realising the experience of shared ethnic interests. Leadership develops as a kind of dual legitimation process, i.e., as individuals or organisations seek to be accepted as spokesmen both by members of the group itself and by outsiders.

Sharpening Decolonial Options in the Present Moment

2018 ◽  
pp. 159-162
Author(s):  
Joseph Drexler-Dreis
Keyword(s):  
James Baldwin ◽  
Frantz Fanon ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Western Modernity ◽  
Present Context ◽  
Theological Language ◽  
Theological Pedagogy ◽  
Ways Of Being

The conclusion draws attention to the intellective praxes of Frantz Fanon, James Baldwin, and liberation theologians within the context of asking the question of what it means to do theology in the present context of global coloniality. It argues that the theological pedagogy of decolonial love offers a particular orientation to theologians as they struggle to apprehend reality: when decolonial love informs a theological image of salvation, it implies a commitment to opposing Western modernity and its ways of delineating ways of being, knowledge, and eschatology, and to living into an alternative eschatological commitment. The theological pedagogy of decolonial love requires investing in new forms of analysis and requires struggling to ground theological language more strongly in historical realities, while doing so in light of the imagination of and commitment to the sacred.

The Creation of Tiquicidad and Theories of National Identity

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-52
Author(s):  
Liz Harvey-Kattou
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Judith Butler ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Frantz Fanon ◽  
Colonial Discourse ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Homi Bhabha ◽  
Gayatri Spivak ◽  
Benedict Anderson ◽  
The Creation

This chapter delves into the psyche of Costa Rica’s identity, providing a historical and sociological analysis of the creation of the dominant – tico – identity from 1870 to the present day, framing these around theories of colonial discourse. Considering work by postcolonial scholars such as Benedict Anderson, Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, and Judith Butler, it explores how the discourse of centre and ‘Other’ has been created within the nation. It then provides a historical account of ‘Otherness’ within the nation, detailing the existence and rights won by Afro-Costa Rican, feminist, and LGBTQ+ groups, detailing a framework of hybrid subalternity which will be used to consider the challenges put forward to dominant national identity in chapters two and three.

The Role of the Built Environment in the Creation, Cultivation and Acquisition of a Knowledge-Base

2010 ◽  
pp. 211-221
Author(s):  
Kristine Peta Jerome
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Physical Design ◽  
The Creation

This chapter explores the role of the built environment in the creation, cultivation and acquisition of a knowledge base by people populating the urban landscape. It examines McDonald’s restaurants as a way to comprehend the relevance of the physical design in the diffusion of codified and tacit knowledge at an everyday level. Through an examination of space at a localised level, this chapter describes the synergies of space and the significance of this relationship in navigating the global landscape.

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