Reading Post 1: Order and Chaos
I'd first like to begin by noting that these readings (and the first day of the course) have made me think about the architectural impacts of colonialism in a different way. Not only from the perspective of how architectural style can be used in accordance with power, but also how the very act of building and demolishing can dictate the narratives in which power is transferred (or taken). The concept of "urbanism" (Rama, p. 3) as mentioned in The Lettered City is also interesting to me as the very word itself presents a metaphorical push towards a better or more futuristic change, but it also continues to present the colonial control within this change through a very Westernized lens. This also made me think about how colonial and Westernized my idea of the social change towards "urbanism" has been established and influenced.
According to the reading, this need for urbanization is rationalized through the implementation of "order" (Rama, pg. 4). Now this is fascinating to me because when I think of colonization, order is the farthest word that comes to mind. Studying pre-colonial Latin American civilizations in other courses presents a very ordered society within the constructions that were in place, thus this "rationalization" from conquerors towards building a more "urban" society was a bit of a baffling read to me. One can argue that colonization was the point of intervention that dictated a future of chaos. Hence, thinking about colonization through a regulated and systematic viewpoint can be a little challenging for me, but again, this is a mindset that has been influenced by 21st-century university perspectives.
Despite this desire for order, it is interesting to contrast the readings as in the Lima Reader, Cobo mentions how the population changes and growth after the establishment of Lima occurred created a space for "a shape and state so different from the one the settlers provided on founding the city" (pg. 17). Through this, one could argue that the process of colonization was not only the exact opposite of structured and organized in terms of killing and displacing existing nations, but also in the exact plan of infrastructure that the colonizers intended to build.
I also think it is interesting to think about the capitalist motivations behind the order that the conquers intended to create. For example, the first thing that I pictured was how the desire for trade could benefit from a very structured and ordered city. However, while Rama mentions this in the reading, I was a little confused as to how the urbanization of the city, only further encouraged agriculture. Perhaps this structured city only created a need for more agriculture to supply for the growing city? I really wanted to know more, but was a bit confused by the way Rama explained this.
To conclude, I also think this grandiose planning for architectural order through destruction and exploitation can be metaphorically compared to the following sentence in The Lima Reader: "The multitude of servants adds to the confusion of the household" (pg. 55). It is interesting how those who came to colonize the city and spread order, then complain about their inability to establish order within their own households.
Question for the class: Before the readings, did you imagine any order amongst colonization?
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI was also a little perplexed by what exactly Rama was getting at with city planning and agriculture. I think you're right that expanding cities rely on increasingly more labour (here, especially peasant labour) to maintain their position of power. Perhaps Rama's example of the city organized in the shape of a circle helps to get at this. Inner districts are physically separated from the land that supports their diet, and the distance between the producers of material wealth and letrados is reinforced by this geographical divide. Although this would still be a rather indirect way how urbanization encourages agriculture, so maybe Rama was getting at something else. I'll be excited to hear more at tomorrow's discussion!
Perhaps we should remember that this book of Rama's is actually a draft, and that he died while writing it... so some ideas may seem expressed in a more or less telegraphic way. But you are right: the cities in the viceregal times were not only centers of administrative power, but they formed a system in which other regions orbited to satisfy their needs. The connection and disconnection between these regions, mediated by the capital city, was also a matter of government.
ReplyDeleteSnap! So interesting to be checking yoself. And particularly the validity or inclusivity of urbanizing solutions to social disparity. I am with you in this unlearning and criticizing western logic and the influenced of our education.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate a lot the scale that you observe from, seeing both the order and its contrary force; CHa0s!
I just wanna throw this out there to respond a bit about the expansion or #industrialization of agriculture that was needed to feed the dis-integrated lifestyles of urban expansion. Let’s look out for it as we venture into more rural settings where food systems as well would have at the time become more “ordered”… and made chaotic by unsustainable production methods untuned to forced of nature, seasons, ritual,, the guides of indigenous societies.
Love your thinking here, thanks :)