Dutton, Michael. 2008. Building a Gift of Politics. Communication, Politics & Culture, 41(1), pp. 78-98. [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Buildings give 'to things their look and to men their outlook', says Martin Heidegger and in a tour of building sites that takes us from the Tower of babel to the qi of ancient Beijing, and on to the Ten Great Projects of the Maoist revolution this article explores the way the built environment reflects the means by which communities are 'worlded'. As one moves from site to site, we go beyond the question of 'form and function' and enter that realm that Georges Bataille labels 'the sacred'. It is through an understanding of this that the building site becomes more than bricks and mortar. It is a means through which one can begin to explore the different cosmologies of politics and move toward a fuller understanding of the 'gift-like' quality of certain forms of politics.

Item Type:	Article
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Politics
Dates:	Date Event 2008 Published
Item ID:	3482
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2010 07:37
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2017 10:24
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/3482

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