Al-Rabady, R. (2026) Decolonising time: Vernacular villages and the politics of heritage temporality. Buildings & Cities, 7(1), pp. 740-756. ISSN 2632-6655
Abstract
What criteria should be used to inform architectural heritage and protection? Jordan's Antiquities Law defines heritage by a 1750 CE cut-off date, a colonial inheritance that excludes Ottoman-era vernacular villages from protection. This chronological boundary severs communities' living connections to ancestral places. Drawing on decolonial critiques of time and Giles Deleuze's philosophy of multiplicity, this study examines five abandoned villages in Jordan where residents sustain alternative temporalities through memory, practice and intergenerational attachment. Thematic analysis of interviews (n = 42) reveals five dimensions of vernacular temporality: layering, absence, adaptation, differentiation and potential, demonstrating that heritage value accrues through ongoing cultural connection rather than chronological distance. These villages function as Deleuzian assemblages in which past and future coexist, the virtual persists alongside the actual, and becoming defines the heritage experience. The findings challenge the 1750 cut-off as an instrument of temporal colonisation that privileges European-connected antiquities while erasing the Ottoman presence. Policy reforms should amend the Antiquities Law to enable post-1750 protection through participatory criteria that recognise intangible significance, institutionalise community-led heritage management, support adaptive reuse initiatives, and direct heritage policy towards the envisioned futures communities. These changes advance 'temporal justice': valuing heritage by cultural connection rather than by arbitrary chronology.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | abandoned settlements; heritage; Jordan; temporal justice; temporality |
| Index terms: | dimension, differentiation, thematic analysis, philosophy, Jordan, privilege, chronology, adaptation, politics, justice, becoming, drawing, adaptive reuse, interview, temporality, critique, presence, heritage management |
| Subjects: | methods and analysis, sociology, technical documentation, data collection methods, philosophical studies, legal systems, user focus, sustainable design, evaluation and assessment methods, Geography, time analysis, political science, heritage and conservation, organization, environmental science, business, health monitoring assessment and metrics, philosophical process |
| Topics: | Governance, Time Control, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Design Practice, Health and Safety, Ethics, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here