On the plaza : the politics of public space and culture
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
On the plaza : the politics of public space and culture
University of Texas Press, c2000
[1st ed.]
- : cl
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-266) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: cl ISBN 9780292747135
Description
In this wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary study, Setha M. Low explores the interplay of space and culture in the plaza, showing how culture acts to shape public spaces and how the physical form of the plaza encodes the social, political, and economic relations within the city. Low centres her study on two plazas in San Jose, Costa Rica, with comparisons to public spaces in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. She interweaves ethnography, history, literature, and personal narrative to capture the ambience and meaning of the plaza. She also uncovers the contradictory ethnohistories of the European and indigenous origins of the Latin American plaza and explains why the plaza is often a politically contested space. Setha M. Low is Professor of Environmental Psychology and Anthropology and Director of the Public Space Research Group at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.
Table of Contents
- Contents: Part One: Introduction
- Notes from the Field: A Personal Account
- Public Space and Culture: The Case of the Latin American Plaza Part Two: Histories: The History of the Plaza in San Jose, Costa Rica: The Political Symbolism of Public Space
- The European History of the Plaza: The Contested Terrain of Architectural Representation
- The Indigenous History of the Plaza: The Contested Terrain of Architectural Representation Part Three: Ethnographies: Spatializing Culture: The Social Production and Social Construction of Public Space
- Constructing Difference: The Social and Spatial Boundaries of Everyday Life
- Public Space and Protest: The Plaza as Art and Commodity Part Four: Conversations: The Park and the Plaza in Costa Rican Literature: Imagined Places
- Conversations on the Plaza: Remembered Places
- A Concluding Conversation on the Politics of Public Space
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780292747142
Description
Robert B. Textor Prize for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology, American Anthropological Association, 2000
Honorable Mention, Victor Turner Award, Society for Humanistic Anthropology, 2001
Leeds Prize, Society of Urban, National, and Transnational/Global Anthropology, 2001
Friendly gossip, political rallies, outdoor concerts, drugs, shoeshines, and sex-for-sale-almost every aspect of Latin American life has its place and time in the public plaza. In this wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary study, Setha M. Low explores the interplay of space and culture in the plaza, showing how culture acts to shape public spaces and how the physical form of the plaza encodes the social and economic relations within its city.
Low centers her study on two plazas in San Jose, Costa Rica, with comparisons to public plazas in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. She interweaves ethnography, history, literature, and personal narrative to capture the ambiance and meaning of the plaza. She also uncovers the contradictory ethnohistories of the European and indigenous origins of the Latin American plaza and explains why the plaza is often a politically contested space.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Introduction
Chapter One: Notes from the Field: A Personal Account
Chapter Two: Public Space and Culture: The Case of the Latin American Plaza
Part II: Histories
Chapter Three: The History of the Plaza in San Jose, Costa Rica: The Political Symbolism of Public Space
Chapter Four: The European History of the Plaza: Power Relations and Architectural Interpretation
Chapter Five: The Indigenous History of the Plaza: The Contested Terrain of Architectural Representations
Part III: Ethnographies
Chapter Six: Spatializing Culture: The Social Production and Social Construction of Public Space
Chapter Seven: Constructing Difference: The Social and Spatial Boundaries of Everyday Life
Chapter Eight: Public Space and Protest: The Plaza as Art and Commodity
Part IV: Conversations
Chapter Nine: The Park and the Plaza in Costa Rican Literature: Imagined Places
Chapter Ten: Conversations on the Plaza: Remembered Places
Chapter Eleven: Public Space, Politics, and Democracy
Appendix: Recent Costa Rican Presidents and Their Terms
Bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"