Culture, Society and Space: A Critique of Anthony King's Recent Books and Culturalism
Resource
建築與城鄉學報, 3, 197-207
Journal
建築與城鄉學報
Journal Issue
3
Pages
197-207
Date Issued
1987-09
Date
1987-09
Author(s)
Chen, C.W.
Abstract
The paper is a review of Anthony King's recently published books Colonial Urban Development (1976); Building and Society (1980); and The Bungalow (1984). The central discussion is focused on methodological level especially on the notion of "culture" as an approach of spatial research which was applicated in his first book about the City of New Delhi. The critic is trying to point out that there is a paradox in cooperating idealistic notion of "culture" and materalistic approach of dependent development in King's method By tracing the development of the notion of "culture" from ancient Greeks' down to that of Boasians', the author shows that culture is but a humanistic notion either to distingulish human being from other spieces, or, one society from the other. Afterwards, in order to demostrate that the notion is incapable to be used as a concept of spatial study, the author tries to locate the notion in the sphere of human praxis to discuss the relationship among the notion an spatial practice, and social production and reproduction. Finally, the author points out that the shifting of approaches in King's last two books towards: Foucaultian method and "dependent urbanization" gave us a new direction of spatial research.
SDGs
Type
journal article