Development in Post-Colonial West Africa: Building the Nation

后殖民西非的发展：建设国家

• 批准号: 2659185
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2659185
• 关键词: Development; Post; Colonial; West; Africa

State led development projects were characteristic of the end of colonial rule in 'British West Africa' and the transition to new independent governments. Infrastructure, prestige projects, and grand architectural schemes are often used to infer power, or suggest modernity, development, and progress. More (seemingly) mundane developments, such as housing, can be as revealing in terms of power structures and wider ambitions. In a problematic and contested political situation, these types of projects become highly charged and significant expressions of a nation's collective (often contested) identity. This is even more meaningful in a colonial context, where architecture, town planning and infrastructure become symbolic expressions of the colonial power.Using The National Archive's extensive collections, the project will explore how the West African 'built environment' was shaped to respond to various political, economic, and welfare ambitions. The timeframe will cover the transition from colonial rule into independence period. Initially scoping all 'British West Africa', the project will focus on one of the former British colonies and consider:1. how notions of 'self', identity, and freedom were expressed through new construction and town planning;2. how former colonisers and other foreign groups attempted to shape and influence these developments in the 'post-colonial' period;3. expressions of identity, nation, 'new beginnings' by the postcolonial nations.The objective of this project is to examine these notions within the West African context over the late colonial and early post-colonial periods. Whilst volatile, this moment, was charged with excitement and optimism, and a desire to 'start again' and rebuild the nation with a new vision. Architecture and planning would shift from being expressions of colonial dominance and subjugation to being expressions of nationalism, hope, and modernisation. It is sometimes tempting to see the event of Independence as an abrupt and sudden moment. The clock strikes twelve and everything suddenly changes - and whilst this is true, it is also oversimplifying a complex event that is, to some degree, still being played-out today. There is also a sense of inertia in the built environment and existing city plans, methods of development, and networks of expertise stubbornly persist and outlast political dynasties.The desire for the newly independent nations to express their hard-fought freedom through physical, often large-scale triumphant (sometimes infrastructure) projects was met with the former colonial power's aspiration to continue offering technical assistance, expertise, and trade. It resulted in a complex blend of nationalism, reimagining/reinventing identity and Pan-African ambition, further mixed with the additional influences of 'non-aligned' socialist assistance and US, World Bank, and UN concerns. Independence was therefore not an abrupt severance from the former colonial power, but a feathered, gradual transition coupled with intense global interest eager to retain or cultivate influence and trade advantage. The project will therefore question how political ideas, and notions surrounding identity, nationhood, and statecraft are expressed or manifest through the built environment. Alongside the National Archives collection, the research would incorporate archival sources from the UK and Nigeria. Also interviews with architects and building users, as well as fieldwork observations will be conducted.There is growing interest in the architecture of the Global South and increasing professional requirements for this material to be taught in architecture schools. There has been some excellent research on the 'colonial city' and increasing focus on African cities, but the lack of scholarship and analysis remains shocking and forms a major gap in our understanding. This project will investigate the extended threshold from colony to independent nation, and there is cert

国家主导的发展项目是“英属西非”殖民统治结束和向新的独立政府过渡的特征。基础设施、声望项目和宏伟的建筑方案经常被用来推断权力，或暗示现代化、发展和进步。更多（看似）平凡的发展，例如住房，也可以在权力结构和更广泛的野心方面发挥作用。在一个有问题和有争议的政治局势中，这些类型的项目成为一个国家集体（经常有争议的）身份的高度紧张和重要的表达。这在殖民背景下更有意义，因为建筑、城市规划和基础设施成为殖民权力的象征性表达。该项目将利用国家档案馆的大量藏品，探索西非的“建筑环境”是如何塑造的，以应对各种政治、经济和福利的野心。时间表将涵盖从殖民统治到独立时期的过渡。该项目最初涵盖整个“英属西非”，将重点关注前英国殖民地之一，并考虑：1。如何通过新建筑和城市规划来表达“自我”、身份和自由的概念；2．前殖民者和其他外国团体如何试图塑造和影响“后殖民”时期的这些发展；3．后殖民国家对身份、民族、“新开始”的表达。该项目的目的是在殖民晚期和后殖民早期早期的西非背景下审视这些概念。尽管动荡不安，但这一刻却充满了兴奋和乐观，以及“重新开始”并以新愿景重建国家的愿望。建筑和规划将从殖民统治和征服的表达转变为民族主义、希望和现代化的表达。有时人们很容易将独立事件视为一个突然而突然的时刻。时钟敲响了十二点，一切都突然发生了变化——虽然这是事实，但它也过于简单化了一个复杂的事件，而这个事件在某种程度上至今仍在上演。建筑环境和现有的城市规划、发展方法和专业知识网络也存在一种惯性感，顽固地坚持并比政治王朝更长久。新独立的国家渴望通过物质的、通常是大型的来表达他们来之不易的自由。大规模的成功项目（有时是基础设施）满足了前殖民国家继续提供技术援助、专业知识和贸易的愿望。它导致了民族主义、重新构想/重塑身份和泛非野心的复杂融合，进一步与“不结盟”社会主义援助以及美国、世界银行和联合国关切的额外影响混合在一起。因此，独立并不是与前殖民国家的突然脱离，而是一种羽毛般的、渐进的过渡，加上渴望保留或培养影响力和贸易优势的全球强烈兴趣。因此，该项目将质疑政治思想以及围绕身份、民族和治国方略的观念如何通过建筑环境来表达或体现。除了国家档案馆收藏之外，该研究还将纳入来自英国和尼日利亚的档案来源。还将对建筑师和建筑用户进行采访，以及实地考察。人们对南半球的建筑越来越感兴趣，对建筑学校教授这种材料的专业要求也越来越高。关于“殖民城市”已有一些出色的研究，并且越来越多地关注非洲城市，但学术和分析的缺乏仍然令人震惊，并在我们的理解中形成了重大差距。本项目将调查从殖民地到独立国家的门槛的延长，并有证据