Ordinary places, extraordinary events : citizenship, democracy and public space in Latin America / edited by Clara Irazábal.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Irazábal, Clara.

Series:

Planning, history, and the environment series

Planning, history and environment series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public spaces--Political aspects--Latin America--Case studies.

Public spaces.

Public spaces--Social aspects--Latin America--Case studies.

Cities and towns--Latin America--History.

Cities and towns.

History.

Public spaces--Social aspects.

Public spaces--Political aspects.

Latin America.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

x, 254 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2008.

Summary:

Clara Irazabal and her contributors explore the urban history of some of Latin America's great cities through studies of their public spaces and what has taken place there. The avenues and plazas of Mexico City, Havana, Santo Domingo, Caracas, Bogota, Sao Paulo, Lima, Santiago, and Buenos Aires have been the backdrop for extraordinary, history-making events. While some argue that public spaces are a prerequisite for the expression, representation and reinforcement of democracy, they can equally be used in the pursuit of totalitarianism. Indeed, public spaces, in both the past and present, have been the site for the contestation by ordinary people of various stances on democracy and citizenship. By exploring the use and meaning of public spaces in Latin American cities, this book sheds light on contemporary definitions of citizenship and democracy in the Americas.

Contents:

Prologue: ordinary places, extraordinary events in Latin America / Clara Irazábal

Citizenship, democracy, and public space in Latin America / Clara Irazábal

Political appropriation of public space: extraordinary events in the Zócalo of Mexico City / Sergio Tamayo and Xóchitl Cruz-Guzmán

Reinventing the void: São Paulo's Museum of Art and public life along Avenida Paulista / Zeuler R. Lima and Vera M. Pallamin

A memorable public space: the plaza of the Central Station in Santiago de Chile / Rodrigo Vidal Rojas and Hans Fox Timmling

Lima's historic centre: old places shaping new social arrangements / Miriam Chion and Wiley Ludeña Urquizo

The Plaza de Bolívar of Bogotá: uniqueness of place, multiplicity of events / Alberto Saldarriaga Roa

Space, revolution and resistance: ordinary places and extraordinary events in Caracas / Clara Irazábal and John Foley

The struggle for urban territories: human rights activists in Buenos Aires / Susana Kaiser

Iconic voids and social identity in a polycentric city: Havana from the nineteenth to the twentieth century / Roberto Segre

Unresolved public expressions of anti-Trujilloism in Santo Domingo / Robert Alexander González.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415354523

0415354528

9780203001219

0203001214

OCLC:

167505856