Echoes of the Frontier: The Impact of Settler-Colonial Thought on US Housing

Presenter

James McGwire

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Ray Kinoshita Mann, Department of Architecture, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board C16, Poster Showcase Room (163), Row 2 (C11-C20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The United States’ westward expansion was an era defined by the violent displacement of indigenous peoples to make way for a new form of occupation on the North American continent. Settlers, carrying European philosophies of ‘home’ and ‘development’, spread across new territories to establish homesteads, claim land, and seek financial success, relying on a unique settler-colonial understanding of land – namely, the view of land as a generic, undifferentiated economic resource rather than a distinct member in a web of reciprocal relationships. I will argue that the legacy of this approach endures into the modern day, as exemplified by the unsustainability of U.S. policies surrounding housing, urban planning, and production; numerous modern environmental issues result from this prescriptive, non-reciprocal relationship with the natural world. 

This research consults rhetoric from the age of Westward Expansion – taken from primary sources such as laws, advertisements, and personal accounts – to establish, through historical analysis and logical argumentation, consistent aspects of settler-colonial engagement with the land that sought to impose a generic Eurocentric notion of ‘civilization and cultivation’ onto diverse ecosystems unsuited to this vision of settlement. The unique nature of the settler-colonial relationship with land will be further established by comparing and contrasting the practices and philosophies of U.S. settlers with those of Anishinaabe, Metis, and Canadian First Nations peoples. Furthermore, the current manifestations and impacts of this relationship will be explored through an examination of modern U.S. housing and urban planning practices, and new approaches that challenge its legacy will be discussed.

Keywords

housing, westward expansion, settler colonialism, sustainability

Research Area

History

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