Landscapes of Privilege: The Politics of the Aesthetic in an American Suburb

by Nancy Duncan

Overview

James and Nancy Duncan look at how the aesthetics of physical landscapes are fully enmeshed in producing the American class system. Focusing on an archetypal upper class American suburb-Bedford in Westchester County, NY-they show how the physical presentation of a place carries with it a range of markers of inclusion and exclusion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415946872
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/12/2003
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

James Duncan is a University Lecturer in Geography at Cambridge University, and Nancy Duncan is Affiliated Lecturer of Geography at Cambridge University.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Bedford in Context 3. The Narrative Structures: The Cultural Codes of a Landscape Aesthetic 4. Anxious Pleasures: Place-Based Identity and the Look of the Land 5. Legislating Beauty: The Politics of Exclusion 6. The Taxman Cometh: The Gift of Nature in Suburbia 7. Fabricating History: The Production of Heritage in Beford Village 8. Another Country: Latino Labor and the Politics of Disappearance 9. Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

"I think that this book will make quite a stir: not just in the suburb under study...but in the wider academic community where its transcendence.will generate much commentary and not a little jealousy." — John Agnew, author of Geopolitics (Routledge)
No.1, Vol.71; Pg.105
"Studying elites is an interesting subject, and this book makes the most of the topic using critical landscape theory." — Journal of the American Planning Association-Landscape of Privilege: The Politic of the Aesthetics in an American Suburb
"...the authors support a well-framed, strong central arguement with abundant empirical evidence in a clearly organized format and with engaging, eloquent text. It is worth careful reading and reflection." — Journal of Cultural Geography, Kelly S, Draper, University of Colorado

From the Publisher