Constructing the Welthauptstadt Germania:  Spatialities of Biopower and Sovereign Violence in the Nazi Capital

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/pz50gw40w

Abstract

This thesis explores the important role of Nazi spatialities in shaping the Third Reich by focusing on the planning and rebuilding of Berlin, the Reich capital. In particular, it analyzes the plans for the city as an apparatus of biopolitical sovereignty. These plans served to foster a biopolitics of the population, securing life for Aryan Germans, while at the same time excluding Jews and exposing them to sovereign violence. Ultimately, the spatial arrangements of the new city helped lead to the politicization of all German life. Drawing largely on Foucault and Agamben, this thesis seeks to uncover a spatialized expression of modern power. In particular, it demonstrates how Nazi urban space constitutes both a repressive and productive field of forces.

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