War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok
This paper analyses an emergent public sphere in Bangkok in order to reveal the gap between ideals of public space as representation of power, nationhood, and modernity, versus its social production in everyday political struggles. The setting for political demonstrations recently shifted from royal...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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TU Delft OPEN Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Footprint |
| Online Access: | https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/764 |
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| author | Brian McGrath |
| author_facet | Brian McGrath |
| author_sort | Brian McGrath |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper analyses an emergent public sphere in Bangkok in order to reveal the gap between ideals of public space as representation of power, nationhood, and modernity, versus its social production in everyday political struggles. The setting for political demonstrations recently shifted from royalist-nationalist Ratchadamnoen Avenue to the Ratchaprasong intersection, the heart of Bangkok’s shopping district. Ratchadamnoen, formerly a stage-set for royalist and nationalist pomp, has been continuously occupied for political uprisings.
In contrast, as the political base of protest in Thailand widened, the glittering shopping malls at Ratchaprasong became a new site of protest, fuelled by urban and rural working poor who sensed they could not afford to partake in Bangkok’s phantasmagorical splendours. The paper argues that in following Bangkok’s historical cycles of blood and massacre in the street lies the possibility of finding new forms of urban design and a public sphere not yet imagined in the West. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-253b6d4849404c01ac9e647fbc9145b8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1875-1504 1875-1490 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | TU Delft OPEN Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Footprint |
| spelling | doaj-art-253b6d4849404c01ac9e647fbc9145b82025-02-03T01:26:35ZengTU Delft OPEN PublishingFootprint1875-15041875-14902013-01-017110.7480/footprint.7.1.764789War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of BangkokBrian McGrathThis paper analyses an emergent public sphere in Bangkok in order to reveal the gap between ideals of public space as representation of power, nationhood, and modernity, versus its social production in everyday political struggles. The setting for political demonstrations recently shifted from royalist-nationalist Ratchadamnoen Avenue to the Ratchaprasong intersection, the heart of Bangkok’s shopping district. Ratchadamnoen, formerly a stage-set for royalist and nationalist pomp, has been continuously occupied for political uprisings. In contrast, as the political base of protest in Thailand widened, the glittering shopping malls at Ratchaprasong became a new site of protest, fuelled by urban and rural working poor who sensed they could not afford to partake in Bangkok’s phantasmagorical splendours. The paper argues that in following Bangkok’s historical cycles of blood and massacre in the street lies the possibility of finding new forms of urban design and a public sphere not yet imagined in the West.https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/764 |
| spellingShingle | Brian McGrath War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok Footprint |
| title | War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok |
| title_full | War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok |
| title_fullStr | War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok |
| title_full_unstemmed | War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok |
| title_short | War, Trade and Desire: Urban Design and the Counter Public Spheres of Bangkok |
| title_sort | war trade and desire urban design and the counter public spheres of bangkok |
| url | https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/764 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brianmcgrath wartradeanddesireurbandesignandthecounterpublicspheresofbangkok |