The End of Tradition?

Rooted in real world observations, this book questions the concept of tradition - whether contemporary globalization will prove its demise or whether there is a process of simultaneous ending and renewing. In his introduction, Nezar Alsayyad discusses the meaning of the word 'tradition' and the current debates about the 'end of tradition'. Thereafter the book is divided into three parts. The three chapters in part I explore the inextricable link between 'tradition' and 'modern', revealing the geopolitical implications of this link. Part II looks at tradition as a process of invention and here the three chapters are all concerned with the making of landscapes and landscape myths, showing how the spectacle of history can be aestheticized and naturalized. Finally, Part III shows how traditionis a regime, programmed and policed and how it has been deployed, resisted, and reworked through hegemonic struggles that seek to create both built environments and citizen-subjects.

Edited by Alsayyad, Nezar

Preface 1. Introduction: The End of Tradition? Part 1. Traditions of the Modern 2. The Global Domestic: Deterritorializing Globalization 3. The End is Near: Apocalypse and Utopia in Contemporary Thought 4. Nostalgias of the Modern. Part 2. Invented Landscapes 5. Nature and Tradition at the Border: Landscaping the End of the Nation State 6. Tourism's Exclusionary Practices in Cancun, Cuba, and Southern Florida: Consumption and Protection of Traditional Environments 7. Architecture and the Production of Postcard Images: Invocations of Tradition vs. Critical Transnationalism in Curitiba. Part 3. Programmes of Tradition8. Tradition as a Means to the End of Tradition: Italian Fascist New Towns 9. Cultural Identity and Architectural Image in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town 10. 'End of Histroy?' Reflections on the Death and Life of Walls in Contemporary China. Index.