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Cultural atavism in the face of an environmental disaster : Skopje 2014 in the limelight

Dymitrow, Mirek LU (2020) In Urban Book Series p.131-149
Abstract

Great social challenges of today, and the conflicts arising therefrom, no longer come one by one. What makes them great is their entanglement in one other and across multiple levels. Similarly, spatial conflicts seldom arise in isolation, but result from simmering tensions that may manifest in a more insidious fashion, namely by appealing to intangible values. This chapter looks into one such spatial project in Skopje, which by its scope and content transpires as less spatial than ideological, yet which nonetheless affects space in a negative way. How could Skopje, a vibrant Balkan city spared by the Yugoslav Wars, turns into the world’s most polluted city and a “megalomaniac Disneyland” on the canvas of geopolitical disrepute,... (More)

Great social challenges of today, and the conflicts arising therefrom, no longer come one by one. What makes them great is their entanglement in one other and across multiple levels. Similarly, spatial conflicts seldom arise in isolation, but result from simmering tensions that may manifest in a more insidious fashion, namely by appealing to intangible values. This chapter looks into one such spatial project in Skopje, which by its scope and content transpires as less spatial than ideological, yet which nonetheless affects space in a negative way. How could Skopje, a vibrant Balkan city spared by the Yugoslav Wars, turns into the world’s most polluted city and a “megalomaniac Disneyland” on the canvas of geopolitical disrepute, staggering corruption and ethnic tensions? To explain the situation, this chapter makes use of the concept of cultural atavism. Its preposition is that when a population’s fundamental existential values are threatened, co-existent tame problems may be left behind in pursuit of primordial yet abstract values. Such dispersion of priorities, however, may create a great social challenge in itself. In Skopje, this was characterised by a pursuit of identity politics in the face of much more tangible problems, like an impending environmental disaster.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cultural atavism, Great social challenge, Identity politics, Skopje 2014, Spatial conflict, Wicked problem
host publication
Urban Book Series
series title
Urban Book Series
pages
19 pages
publisher
Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85097957736
ISSN
2365-757X
2365-7588
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-61765-3_8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
223bdea8-cf19-4add-865e-299a71715f2f
date added to LUP
2021-01-11 10:44:47
date last changed
2024-04-03 22:42:08
@inbook{223bdea8-cf19-4add-865e-299a71715f2f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Great social challenges of today, and the conflicts arising therefrom, no longer come one by one. What makes them great is their entanglement in one other and across multiple levels. Similarly, spatial conflicts seldom arise in isolation, but result from simmering tensions that may manifest in a more insidious fashion, namely by appealing to intangible values. This chapter looks into one such spatial project in Skopje, which by its scope and content transpires as less spatial than ideological, yet which nonetheless affects space in a negative way. How could Skopje, a vibrant Balkan city spared by the Yugoslav Wars, turns into the world’s most polluted city and a “megalomaniac Disneyland” on the canvas of geopolitical disrepute, staggering corruption and ethnic tensions? To explain the situation, this chapter makes use of the concept of cultural atavism. Its preposition is that when a population’s fundamental existential values are threatened, co-existent tame problems may be left behind in pursuit of primordial yet abstract values. Such dispersion of priorities, however, may create a great social challenge in itself. In Skopje, this was characterised by a pursuit of identity politics in the face of much more tangible problems, like an impending environmental disaster.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dymitrow, Mirek}},
  booktitle    = {{Urban Book Series}},
  issn         = {{2365-757X}},
  keywords     = {{Cultural atavism; Great social challenge; Identity politics; Skopje 2014; Spatial conflict; Wicked problem}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{131--149}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
  series       = {{Urban Book Series}},
  title        = {{Cultural atavism in the face of an environmental disaster : Skopje 2014 in the limelight}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61765-3_8}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-030-61765-3_8}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}