La Cecla
Mente locale [Local Mind]
Foreword by Paul K. Feyerabend
Foreword by Paul K. Feyerabend
Mente locale, a very peculiar Italian expression, literally "Local mind", is the common ability in all cultures and individuals to make sense of space, to create mental maps that allow humans to meaningfully live within space. It is a skill that we acquire, just like language, movement or music, which allows us to imagine and change the space we live in, to make "use" it. Today, such continuous interaction between us and the environment is often reduced to mere consumption. And this is in turn further alienated by "experts of space": architects, politicians, bureaucrats. Though latent, the "local mind" is always ready to take advantage of any crack in the bureaucratic system to express itself. For instance, in Palermo (Sicily) with the "revolts of the courtyards", or in Terrasini where fishermen project their vital space even across the Atlantic. But it is also an expression of the dreams of ubiquity we all today seem to share.
Franco La Cecla, anthropologist and urban planner, has taught Cultural Anthropology in Berkeley, Paris, Venice, Bologna, and Milan.
Franco La Cecla, anthropologist and urban planner, has taught Cultural Anthropology in Berkeley, Paris, Venice, Bologna, and Milan.