Space and Communal Agency in Pre-Modern Societies

Examines how monumental spaces shaped power, community identities, and political agency in ancient societies through collective practices and competing uses of space.

Monumental spaces were fundamental in constructing power, political order and collective identities in the ancient and pre-modern world. Authorities dedicated considerable resources to building power landscapes that represented their ideals about what a harmonious society and an ordered world should be under their inspired guidance. However, social stability actually depended on the rulers' capacity to integrate diverse social sectors beyond the usually restricted circle of the elite. These sectors may influence decision-making and produce formal or informal institutions that the rulers should consider. Communal and civic agency appears thus as a fundamental field of research. Whereas these sectors are frequently underrepresented in the written and monumental record, the traces of their values, aspirations, needs and social influence may be detected through archaeology. In Mesoamerican cities, for example, with their often loose urban layouts and autonomous neighbourhoods, the rulers needed to gather people as spectators to legitimate their authority. Plazas therefore became essential to negotiate consent and social consensus. In the Classical world, agoras, forums and amphitheatres were intended to promote civic values, deliberation and collective identity. Finally, social confrontation could result in disputed interpretations, alternative uses, abandonment and destruction of built environments and spaces. The traditional focus on elite areas and buildings may thus conceal the political importance of spatial forms and constructions serving communal needs.

This book delves into the intricate relationship between built environments, collective identities and civic agency. It also scrutinises the potential conflicts that can emerge from the competing or alternative uses of space, whether public, ritual, civic or a combination of these. By presenting a selection of historical case studies from various regions of the world, the book aims to challenge existing concepts and perspectives about the civic and communal influences in settlement organisation and monumentality. It also sheds light on the boundaries of rulers' authority and the presence of collective institutions, identities and decision-making forms that are seldom discussed in official sources.