Alternative Globalities in Mexico City: The Santa Fe Megaproject versus the “Rescue” of Downtown

Abstract

Through a comparison of two neighborhoods in Mexico City, Hayman analyzes the variegated nature of processes often labeled as "globalization," "development," or "modernization." Despite the common ideological assumption of a unified telos acting within the movements of so-called global capital, the methods, practices, and social effects of "development" take shape according to prior social configurations. The material and symbolic histories of space shape the subsequent methods of state and market actors intending to reconfigure the social world in line with global capital. Comparison of the neighborhoods of Santa Fe and downtown reveals a diverse array of "channels" and registers through which space is made global.