Illinois Global Institute

As the home to the area and global studies centers and thematic programs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Illinois Global Institute is dedicated to fostering an environment where international perspectives are integral to teaching and research.

Center for African Studies * Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies * Center for Global Studies * Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies * Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies * Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity * European Union Center * LAS Global Studies * Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies * Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center * The Program in Arms Control and Domestic and International Security

 

Benjamin Bross, Mexico City Zócalo: Spatial Production and the Ongoing Construction of a National Identity

Apr 12, 2023   12:00 pm  
International and Area Studies Library, Room 309
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Lecture
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Center of Global Studies
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Benjamin A. Bross
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Center for Global Studies: Events

View the recording here.

Join the CGS Team in welcoming Benjamin A. Bross, PhD, on Wednesday, April 12 at 12PM (CST) in person (International and Area Studies Library, Room 309) and on Zoom for his lecture, "Mexico City Zócalo: Spatial Production and the Ongoing Construction of a National Identity."

The lecture examines one of Latin America’s most important and symbolic spaces: Mexico City’s Zócalo. The lecture begins by posing questions about how the identity of a place emerges, how it evolves and why are spatial identities dynamic.  To answer these questions, Bross weaves together historic events and corresponding morphological changes in the urban environment of a specific place, the Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución), to explain the emergence and evolution of Mexican spatial identities over time.

Starting from the pre-Hispanic period to present day, the lecture will illustrate how the Zócalo reveals a spatial production that embodies a larger socio-cultural zeitgeist. By focusing on the history of changes in spatial production – what Henri Lefebvre calls society’s "secretions" – Bross traces how cultural, social, economic, and political forces shaped the Zócalo’s spatial identity and, in turn, how the Zócalo shaped and fostered new identities in return. It will be a fascinating read for architectural and urban historians investigating Latin America.


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