Buildings, Space, Power: Postcolonial and Decolonial Histories of the Built Environment

This seminar examines the state of the field in historical studies of modern colonialism and imperialism and built environments. By reading and discussing recent publications in architectural history, urban studies, anthropology, history, literary studies, and colonial/ postcolonial studies, the course identifies new approaches in the field, including a focus on intersections between colonialism and ecological disaster, development and the redistribution of land during and after colonialism, distinctive forms of labor that emerged in colonial built environment contexts, consumption practices and their role in nurturing new markets and new social classes, and strategies for navigating the contemporary material legacies of colonialism such as monuments and toponymy. Our study revolves around two principal questions: How was the built environment leveraged to support and sometimes challenge colonial and imperial ideologies? In turn how have postcolonial societies worked to transform colonial built discourses? A