King’s Work-in-Progress Seminar: Michael Herzfeld

Michael Herzfeld will present  some early thoughts on his new ethnography of town-planners in Italy at the King’s Work-in-Progress Seminar series.  In his own words:

This project, very much in its early stages, is an ethnography of Italian town-planners.  Ethnographies of whole professions, even within national borders, pose both practical and epistemological problems, but potentially afford an intimate window on the ideas and practices of people who sometimes radically affect the lives of significant numbers of people.  Given the particularly complex intertwining of planning, conservation, and even archaeology in the Italian context, as well as the fragmenting effects of an entrenched regionalism that creates classically segmentary relations even in communities of professionals, Italy seems especially fertile territory for such an exploration.

The seminars will take place on the 17th, 18th and 20th of January 2012 in the King’s College Wine Room between 5:00 and 7:00PM.  Space is limited and active participation expected.  Email Anastasia Piliavsky at an379 [at] cam.ac.uk to book your seat.