Philosophies of the City

This seminar reads key theoretical texts from the late nineteenth century to the present that address the city and urbanization as objects of critical, philosophical reflection. An important contribution to such thought was made by a variety of German thinkers concerned with the modern metropolis. The seminar begins there and follows the problem forward, to the present, with a particular focus on the interactions of capital and culture, and to the social relations of urbanization, technological development, decolonization, and financialization, including the role of architecture and urbanism therein. The aim is not a philosophical metalanguage but rather, the elaboration of a critical, theoretical discourse. Special attention will be paid to the constitutive role of buildings, space, and infrastructures within this discourse.