D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp
The demolition and clearance of“JJ clusters”[jhuggijhopri clusters/squatter settlements] in Delhi in the first decade of the 21st century resulted in the displacement of approximately one million people, i.e. about 6% of the total population of Delhi. There can be little doubt that “slum clearance”...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer India
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110455 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-7268 |
| _version_ | 1811078467197861888 |
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| author | Rao Cavale, Karthik |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Rao Cavale, Karthik |
| author_sort | Rao Cavale, Karthik |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The demolition and clearance of“JJ clusters”[jhuggijhopri clusters/squatter settlements] in Delhi in the first decade of the 21st century resulted in the displacement of approximately one million people, i.e. about 6% of the total population of Delhi. There can be little doubt that “slum clearance” on such a massive scale was a form of class warfare carried out by Delhi’s elites
against the working classes. And yet, the metaphor of “warfare” seems inappropriate to describe events which produced little controversy, except among those immediately affected. How was such a drastic programme of urban cleansingconceived and implemented, and why was the
resistance it generated so splintered, weak and ineffectual? In Rule by Aesthetics, Asher Ghertnerargues that this dramatic restructuring of the city could be enacted successfully because state institutions, and the judiciary in particular, set aside the “calculative instruments of map, census, and survey” and instead inaugurated a “mode of governing space on the basis of codes of appearance”. This was made possible by the “dissemination of a… world-class aesthetic”, and the “cultivation of a viewing public that takes part in that very vision.” So powerful was the allure of the “world-class aesthetic” that even the victims of “world-class” city making were instilled with“a will to participate in its discourse and to make its visual criteria their own.” While partaking in this aesthetic discourse did not denote consent for violent demolition, Ghertner argues that it was a response to the constraints of the political environment in which “jhuggi dwellers’ political demands were rendered mere noise”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:00:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/110455 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:00:15Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer India |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1104552022-10-01T00:30:46Z D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp Rao Cavale, Karthik Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Rao Cavale, Karthik The demolition and clearance of“JJ clusters”[jhuggijhopri clusters/squatter settlements] in Delhi in the first decade of the 21st century resulted in the displacement of approximately one million people, i.e. about 6% of the total population of Delhi. There can be little doubt that “slum clearance” on such a massive scale was a form of class warfare carried out by Delhi’s elites against the working classes. And yet, the metaphor of “warfare” seems inappropriate to describe events which produced little controversy, except among those immediately affected. How was such a drastic programme of urban cleansingconceived and implemented, and why was the resistance it generated so splintered, weak and ineffectual? In Rule by Aesthetics, Asher Ghertnerargues that this dramatic restructuring of the city could be enacted successfully because state institutions, and the judiciary in particular, set aside the “calculative instruments of map, census, and survey” and instead inaugurated a “mode of governing space on the basis of codes of appearance”. This was made possible by the “dissemination of a… world-class aesthetic”, and the “cultivation of a viewing public that takes part in that very vision.” So powerful was the allure of the “world-class aesthetic” that even the victims of “world-class” city making were instilled with“a will to participate in its discourse and to make its visual criteria their own.” While partaking in this aesthetic discourse did not denote consent for violent demolition, Ghertner argues that it was a response to the constraints of the political environment in which “jhuggi dwellers’ political demands were rendered mere noise”. 2017-07-05T15:01:03Z 2018-02-04T06:00:05Z 2017-04 2017-06-30T03:46:24Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0304-0941 2197-1722 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110455 Rao-Cavale, Karthik. “D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by Aesthetics: World-Class City Making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp.” DECISION 44.2 (2017): 165–167. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-7268 en http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40622-017-0153-9 DECISION Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Indian Institute of Management Calcutta application/pdf Springer India Springer India |
| spellingShingle | Rao Cavale, Karthik D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title | D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title_full | D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title_fullStr | D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title_full_unstemmed | D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title_short | D. Asher Ghertner: Rule by aesthetics: world-class city making in Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2015, 272 pp |
| title_sort | d asher ghertner rule by aesthetics world class city making in delhi oxford university press 2015 272 pp |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110455 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-7268 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT raocavalekarthik dasherghertnerrulebyaestheticsworldclasscitymakingindelhioxforduniversitypress2015272pp |