Seite - 124 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

124 AdamRogers allows local processes andmeanings to be prioritised over the top-down Romanocentric ap- proach.This in turnallowsus toaddress, fromacritical perspective, the issueofRomanisation and identity in theRomanperiod. Water andcitydevelopment inurban theory: Romanstudies andbeyond Decentring is a term taken from post-colonial theory and reflects the desire within colonial contexts tomoveawayfromthe top-downhierarchicalapproachandinsteadtoemphasise local circumstances and experiences. Decentring has geographical implications in placing the em- phasis away from the colonial power and instead looking at the impact on regional areas and theunique issues that concerneacharea. It looks at the combinationof local agencyandcolo- nial influences. Decentring, however, also allows us to ask different questions of the data. It deprioritises the themes thatwe tend to focuson,and thequestions thatweaskof thematerial, and instead allows us to interpret the data fromdifferent perspectives and intellectual frame- works. Developments within post-colonial studies argue that non-Western forms of urban settle- ment shouldnot be regarded as inferior toWestern formsof urbandevelopment. There is also a questioning of theway inwhich urban settlements are placed in hierarchies of importance withmanynon-Western or earlyWestern urban sites described as proto-urban rather thanur- ban;Westerncitiesarealsoseenassuperior tonon-Westernsettlements.TimEdensorandMark Jaynehave argued thatweneed todecentralise theway inwhichweapproachurban studies.3 Thismeans thatweneedtomoveurbantheoryawayfromapreoccupationwithWesternurban- ism. This is not only about treating non-Western settlements equally, but also thinking about hownon-Western sites canbe investigated fromdifferent, non-Western perspectives, andhow these themes canalsohelpus to seeWestern sites in adifferent light. Thesedifferent perspec- tivescanrelate to thedevelopmentand functionofurbansettlements, theorganisationanduse ofurbanspace, theconstructionanduseofbuildingsandthe livesandexperiencesof residents. Non-Westernperspectivescancontribute toanexcitingvarietyofwaysof thinkingabouturban- ismandurbanspaces.Withinarchaeology, thisdecentringofurbanstudies isevenmorecrucial because of the way in whichWestern perspectives have conventionally dominated in urban investigations globally, despite there being a huge range of different settlement sites. This is important for thinkingabout theRomanworld,where thereweremanydifferent typesofurban sitesacross theEmpire; theyneed tobe investigated inways thatdonotprioritise theRomano- centric perspectives. Swati Chattopadhyay has argued that the ‘West’ dominates urban theory and concepts of urbanismare also linked intoWestern concepts of capitalismand colonialism.4Other types of urbanism are seen as ‘beyond theWest’, but still shaped by comparison with theWest. She argues that there is an inability tomove beyond the limitations of theWestern preoccupation inurban studies and this is especially the case in the studyof colonial cities, suchas in India. Across the social sciences there has also been recognition of the need to look at the origins of the theoretical discussions and frameworks that have developedwithin academia inWestern contexts.RaewynConnell,5 forexample,hasarguedthatweneedto involveothercultural tradi- tionsfromacross theworld inthedevelopmentof theory.Westerntheoryhasalsobeencritiqued for placing toomuch emphasis on representing themodernworld fromeconomic and rational 3 Edensor– Jayne 2012. 4 Chattopadhyay 2012. 5 Connell 2007.