Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

[reblogged from URB-GEOG-FORUM listserv]

AAG Paper session: “Rising to the challenge: defining the contours of a new 21^st century critical urban theory”

This session enquires strategically and critically into the current tradition of critical urban theory (CUT) and calls for creative reformulations. The task of articulating alternative forms of CUT has been piecemeal and implicit. Now is the time to formally and explicitly address this exciting challenge.

Brenner at al.’s recent (2012) critically-acclaimed volume, Cities for People, Not for Profit which, while offering some challenging and illuminating perspectives on the impact of the current crisis in global capitalism also admits that current CUT struggles to keep up with the ‘restless periodicity and extraordinary slipperiness of the urban phenomenon’ (p.117). The rapid transformation and expansion of urban space (often referred to these days as ‘planetary’ urbanism) challenges the binary simplicity and clarity of traditional neo-Marxist-based CUT with regards to the…

Long before the advent of all the modern day life-saving surgical procedures and treatments, there was a doctor by the name of Sushruta who was making a start on them. Living in ancient India around 700 BC, he practiced medicine near the modern day city of Varanasi, which sits on the river Ganges. As a highly skilled physician and surgeon, he developed a number of surgical techniques to relieve the suffering he saw around him. His work is unparalleled for the time, recorded in his book Sushruta Samhita (Samhita meaning “compendium” in Sanskrit, it is also considered a cornerstone of Ayurvedic Medicine). The book detailed hundreds of illnesses and treatments, with some of the following surgeries:

– Complicated incision and excision techniques

– The use of sutures to control hemorrhage

– Draining of abscesses

– Intra-abdominal intestinal surgery

– Treatment of traumatic injuries and fractures

– Opthalmological procedures including…