City and Soul in Divided Societies

by Bollens; Scott A.

• ISBN13: 9780415779234
• ISBN10: 0415779235
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-10-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In this unique book Scott A. Bollens combines personal narrative with academic analysis in telling the story of inflammatory nationalistic and ethnic conflict in nine cities '¬ ; Jerusalem, Beirut, Belfast, Johannesburg, Nicosia, Sarajevo, Mostar, Bilbao, and Barcelona. Reporting on 17 years of research and over 240 interviews with political leaders, planners, architects, community representatives, and academics, he blends personal reflections, reportage from a wealth of original interviews, and the presentation of hard data in a multidimensional and interdisciplinary exploration of these urban environments of damage, trauma, healing, and repair. City and Soulreveals what it is like living and working in these cities, going inside the head of the researcher. This approach extends the reader'¬"s understanding of these places and connects more intimately with the lived urban experience. Bollens observes that a city disabled by nationalistic strife looks like a callous landscape of securitized space, divisions and wounds, frozen in time and in place. Yet, the soul in these cities perseveres. Written for general readers and academic specialists alike, City and Soulintegrates facts, opinions, photographs, and observations in original ways in order to illuminate the substantial challenges of living in, and governing, polarized and unsettled cities.

Author Biography

Scott A. Bollens is Professor of Urban Planning at the University of California, Irvine, where he holds the Warmington Chair in Peace and international Coooperation. He is author of Cities, Nationalism, and Democratization (2007), On Narrow Ground (2000), and Urban Peace-Building in Divided Societies (1999).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
List of Illustrations	p. ix
Polarized Cities
Introduction	p. 3
Scholarship with an æIÆ	p. 5
Soul in the City: Epic Cultures and Urban Fault-Lines	p. 10
Nine Cities, Nine Sorrows
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina: 'Urbicide' and Dayton	p. 25
Johannesburg, South Africa: 'Trying to Swim Olympic Style after Years of Drowning'	p. 42
Belfast, Northern Ireland: A 'Peace' Not Envisioned	p. 57
Nicosia, Cyprus: Surmounting Walls, not Politics	p. 70
Basque Country, Spain: Moving from Etxea to Euskal Hiria	p. 81
Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina: The City as War Spoils	p. 96
Barcelona, Spain: An Inclusive Nationalism?	p. 108
Jerusalem, Israel/West Bank: Narrowing the Grounds for Peace	p. 124
Beirut, Lebanon: City in an Indeterminate State, Part I	p. 145
Beirut, Lebanon: City in an Indeterminate State, Part II	p. 173
Synthesis
Comparing Across Conflicts	p. 203
Cities and National Peace	p. 227
Interviews	p. 252
References	p. 263
Index	p. 272
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