Peripheral modernism: Charles Polónyi and the lessons of the village

Moravánszky, Ákos

doi:10.1080/13602365.2016.1204076

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Such strategic self-peripheralisation subscribed to an intellectual tradition in Central Europe that distinguished between ‘periphery’ and ‘province’. According to this tradition, provincial cultural production was characterised by an influence of one powerful centre; in contrast, a Central European, peripheral thinker receives impulses from many centres, and mixes and develops them (Białostocki, 1989; Moravánszky, 2012; Šerman, 2016). Along these lines, Polónyi acknowledged the delays, distortions and echoes that characterised peripheral production of knowledge, but he also saw them as an opportunity for scepticism, relativism and a pragmatic appropriation of ideas for the specific purposes at hand (Moravánszky, 2012: 335; Polónyi, 2000).…”

Section: Appropriative Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to this tradition, provincial cultural production was characterised by an influence of one powerful centre; in contrast, a Central European, peripheral thinker receives impulses from many centres, and mixes and develops them (Białostocki, 1989; Moravánszky, 2012; Šerman, 2016). Along these lines, Polónyi acknowledged the delays, distortions and echoes that characterised peripheral production of knowledge, but he also saw them as an opportunity for scepticism, relativism and a pragmatic appropriation of ideas for the specific purposes at hand (Moravánszky, 2012: 335; Polónyi, 2000). Reflecting on his African work, Polónyi (2000) argued that independence transformed the formerly colonised territories from a province to a periphery, not unlike Central Europe.…”

Section: Appropriative Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socialist worldmaking: The political economy of urban comparison in the Global Cold War

Stanek

2021

Urban Studies

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This article revisits comparative urban studies produced during the Cold War in the framework of ‘socialist worldmaking’, or multiple, evolving and sometimes antagonistic practices of cooperation between socialist countries in Eastern Europe and decolonising countries in Africa and Asia. Much like the recent ‘new comparative urbanism’, these studies extended the candidates, terms and positionalities of comparison beyond the Global North. This article focuses on operative concepts employed by Soviet, Eastern European, African and Asian scholars and professionals in economic and spatial planning across diverse locations, and shows how they were produced by means of ‘adaptive’ and ‘appropriative’ comparison. While adaptive comparison was instrumental in the application of Soviet concepts in countries embarking on the socialist development path, appropriative comparison juxtaposed concepts from various contexts – whether the ‘West’ or the ‘East’ – in order to select those best suitable for the means and needs on the ground. This article argues that this conceptual production was conditioned by the political economy of socialist worldmaking and shows how these experiences are useful for a more critical advancement of comparative urban research today.

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Section: Appropriative Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Appropriative Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socialist worldmaking: The political economy of urban comparison in the Global Cold War

Stanek

2021

Urban Studies

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“…They also worked on the resettlement village layouts, preferring a dialogue with 'the locals' and 'often succeeded by just not following the usual pre-disqualification of the peasant or African'. 85 At KNUST they were responsible for the revision of the architecture curriculum to include the hypothetical task of designing resettlement villages, shifting the syllabus away from formal solutions and utilitarian layouts towards cultural investigations and social interaction, which continues to the present day. 86 These proposals therefore tended to be tentative and exploratory, seeking a response from future residents and attempting less formal plans that resemble casual village clusters.…”

Section: Ajena: Temporary Housing and Prefabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Volta River Project: planning, housing and resettlement in Ghana, 1950–1965

Jackson

Uduku

Addo

et al. 2019

The Journal of Architecture

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This paper investigates the housing schemes proposed in connection with the Volta River Project, Ghana, in the mid-1950s to early 1960s. The Volta River Project formed part of Kwame Nkrumah's vision for Ghana's modernisation and industrialisation in the wake of political independence. Three associated worker housing schemes demonstrated somewhat contradictory design and construction methods, from high specification, extensive amenities, and comprehensive servicing, through to self-build 'core' houses amounting to little more than single-room dwellings. The paper traces the complex and controversial history of these schemes, supplemented with findings of several field trips to the settlements in question, to unravel the value of the 'Core Houses' approach. The most successful project to incorporate indigenous agency and true collaboration was the semi-formal 'Combined Area' housing at Akosombo, a positive model for shared agency and collaboration in planning, housing, and facilities delivery. Sitting alongside the carefully manicured plan of Akosombo, with its regulated market, excellent health care and desire to set high standards of cleanliness, the Combined Area has not only provided homes for the lower-paid and labouring workers of the town, but has developed over time into a settlement where professionals and retired government workers are also now residing, not out of necessity but by choice. By actively developing their own homes, shared spaces and amenities there has developed a strong sense of ownership, community, and identity. The success and level of attachment to this settlement clearly extends beyond its material presence and through the shared experience of helping to cultivate a place of one's own.

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Field Notes: Why We Need Eastern Europe?

Popescu,

Kurg,

Stanek

et al. 2024

Architectural Histories

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These Field Notes map the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on research in architectural history. We asked scholars already involved with Eastern Europe and Russia how the conflict has affected their approach to the region and to their work. In five responses to this question, these authors identify the need to dismantle conceptual and geopolitical frameworks that have been inherited from the late Soviet period, critically re-read the historiography of Russian avant- garde and constructivist architecture, and confront the question of postcolonial critique in Eastern Europe from a viewpoint in the Global South. Taken together, these notes from the field offer both immediate reactions from scholars to the terrible war in Ukraine and reflections on possible paths for architectural history writing in the aftermath of this shock.

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Peripheral modernism: Charles Polónyi and the lessons of the village

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Socialist worldmaking: The political economy of urban comparison in the Global Cold War

Socialist worldmaking: The political economy of urban comparison in the Global Cold War

The Volta River Project: planning, housing and resettlement in Ghana, 1950–1965

Field Notes: Why We Need Eastern Europe?

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