Author(s): Eickhoff,Hans
Date: 2024
Origin: SciELO Portugal
Subject(s): Chicago School; urban space; human ecology; epic theatre
Document details
Saint Joan of the Stockyards meets the Chicago School: challenging the discussion of urban space in Human Ecology
Description
Abstract This paper uses Brecht’s stage play Saint Joan of the Stockyards as scenery to critically analyze the Chicago School’s approach towards human ecology which primarily targeted the environmental and temporal circumstances of human existence and engaged in a biologistic and competitive view of social relations. In the context of Chicago during and after WWI and bearing on the relevance of the meatpacking industry, I argue that scholars like Park, Burgess and McKenzie and their referral to the ‘laws of nature’ informed (and were informed by) a reciprocal process between existing prejudices and beliefs and academic research, shaping an idea of urban space and the ‘ghetto’ that supports the segregation of black, indigenous and people of color up to the present day. In contrast, recent concepts in human ecology consider tackling the complexity of urban systems in all its dimensions within a framework of transdisciplinarity and post-normal science.
Document Type
Journal article
Language English
Language English
