Rubble - The Afterlife of Destruction

Gastón R. Gordillo is Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Landscapes of Devils: Tensions of Place and Memory in the Argentinean Chaco, also published by Duke University Press.

List of contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Constellations 1

Part One. Ghosts of Indians

1. A Haunted Frontier 31

2. On the Edge of the Void 53

Part Two. Lost Cities

The Destruction of Space 77

3. Land of Curses and Miracles 85

4. The Ruins of Ruins 111

Part Three. Residues of a Dream World

Treks across Fields of Rubble 125

5. Ships Stranded in the Forest 131

6. Bringing a Destroyed Place Back to Life 153

7. Railroads to Nowhere 169

Part Four. The Debris of Violence

Bright Objects 185

8. Topographies of Oblivion 191

9. Piles of Bones 209

10. The Return of the Indians 229

Conclusion: We Aren't Afraid of Ruins 253

Notes 271

References 287

Index 303

About the author

Gastón R. Gordillo

Summary

Based on ethnographic research in the foothills of the Argentine Andes, Gastón R. Gordillo reveals the spatial, historical, and affective ruptures embodied in debris. For the rural poor, the rubble left in the wake of capitalist and imperialist endeavors is not romanticized ruin but the material manifestation of the violence and dislocation that created it.

Product details

• Authors: Gastaon Gordillo, Gastón R Gordillo, Gaston R. Gordillo, Gastón R. Gordillo
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 20.08.2014
• EAN: 9780822356141
• ISBN: 978-0-8223-5614-1
• No. of pages: 336
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Südamerika, Amerikanische Geschichte, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Geography, Humangeographie, Archaeology / Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, HISTORY / Latin America / South America