Ph.D

Abstract

Space is a multi-dimensional concept that is at once economic, political, semiotic and experiential, and in this sense it is an integral component of social interaction and an indispensable vector for critical theories. After 1980's knowledge of space has become critical to understanding the production and transformation of power relations, and in this regard the built environment is an important concept for any endeavor in social analysis. By reviewing a subsection of the growing academic literature on space and power theories, this thesis seeks to demonstrate how the consideration of power-spatial relations can enhance our understanding of urban spaces in urban study researches. This research explores the possibilities for development of social theories of space-power based on the theories of Anthony Giddens, Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau and Foucault, coupled with methods of content analysis of urban spaces. The aim of this article is to explore how political power in Safavid era, especially Shah Abbsas reign, is reproduced in urban spaces, and to explore how these reproduction processes might be conceptualized and analyzed. To do this a theoretical and analytical framework for analysis of power-spatial relations is discussed as the macro level research achievement of this thesis.

The dissertation begins by exploring the social theories of power and space to analyze and interpret the relationship between urban space and political power: how power shapes and determines certain forms of spaces and how spaces, in turn take on specific power relations. This analytical review clarify main strategies which political powers implement to shape urban spaces, and improve their authority and legitimacy through spaces, in turn. These strategies can be categorized in three main steps. The first is applying spatial technologies through founding of spatial structural and functional principles. Showing attention to representations of urban spaces in society is another step which can be achieved by controlling of spatial advertisement in multiple media, spatial reflection on movies, books, paintings …, and finally controlling the narratives. The third step could be explained as penetration on everyday life of urban spaces users. Although, practice of everyday life was firstly mentioned by de Certeau as a tactic of power objects for resistance to power, but everyday life practices could be hanger of power relation via what Giddens suggested as structuration theory. That suggests that spatialized practices of power can be modeled as enabling and constraining relations between “structure” and “agency”, which is explained thoroughly across the second chapter.

The content analyzing of urban spaces methodology of this dissertation is based on text analyzing methods. Emphasizing on M.M.Bakhtin's reading theory, this research explores urban spaces as a particular text, novel, and takes the conceptual framework of Bakhtin's novel theory into consideration for content analyzing of places. It seems another macro-level innovation of the thesis is to develop a structural and substantial analysis method borrowing the concept of novel reading from linguistics, and to elaborate a tool for the meaning analysis in a historical urban research scope. This methodology is discussed during chapter three. Grounded on analytical and interpretative study of social theories of space and power relations (chapter tow), this thesis seeks to demonstrate how ruling power during Shah Abbas reign produced urban spaces and how those spaces reproduced authority and legitimacy for those power relations. The research concentrated on Naghsh e Jahan square and Chahar Bagh Street as city scale urban spaces on that era. This analyzing of historical Isfahan urban spaces, in fifth chapter is based on historical- interpretative study of political basis of Shah Abbas kingdom in forth chapter.

Key words: Urban Spaces, Isfahan, Shah Abbas Reign, Power Relations, Legitimization