The Sociology of Architecture: Constructing Identities

Focusing on the mobilization of architecture in periods of social change, The Sociology of Architecture uses critical sociological frameworks to assess the distinctive force added to political projects by architects and their work. Through engagement with a range of illustrative examples from contested contemporary and historical architectural projects, Paul Jones analyses some of the ways in which architects have sought to position their architecture relative to state projects and wider publics. A central objective of the book is to situate major architectural projects as a research agenda for sociologists and others interested in the relationship between power, culture, and collective identities. Adopting a critical approach to such questions, The Sociology of Architecture frames architecture as a field of contestation over symbolic and material resources, which in turn provides an entry point for questioning the inextricably political ways in which collective identities are constructed, maintained and mobilized.