Enlightenment spatial schemes were ultimately realized by capitalist modernization
Evidence
There is a continuous thread of thought from Voltaire’s concern with rational city planning through to Saint-Simon’s vision of associated capitals unifying the earth by way of vast investments in transport and communications, and Goethe’s heroic invocation in Faust - ‘let me open spaces for many millions/ to dwell in, though not secure, yet active and free’ - and the ultimate realization of exactly such projects as part and parcel of the capitalist modernization process in the nineteenth century. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1592
Categorization
- XREF: Key for the rival-periodization comparison: this chapter grounds modernist spatial ideology in concrete capitalist implementation, the antecedent logic flexible accumulation then overturns. — connects to: Enlightenment thought was grounded in the practical rationalization of space and time. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1641; Market capitalism reorganizes sacred space into Cartesian geometric homogeneity; Postmodern architectural disputes are inseparable from capitalist spatial reorganization — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 577 (+1 more)
- SEED: The line ‘let me open spaces for many millions… yet active and free’ as it got realized by capitalist development is a sharp essay angle on how well-intentioned spatial ideals get commandeered.
Broader Connections
- Market capitalism reorganizes sacred space into Cartesian geometric homogeneity
#exemplifies(0.82) - Postmodern architectural disputes are inseparable from capitalist spatial reorganization
#expands(0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 577