Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-310) and index.

Summoning global subjects -- Unifying science, 1905-1913 : De Bazel's World Capital and Andersen's World-Centre -- Financializing debt, 1927--1933 : the Otlet-Corbusier Cité Mondiale -- Saving empire, 1924-1933 : Besant's world-empire -- Conserving nature, 1920-1935 : Griffin's Castlecrag -- Globalizing democracy, 1938-1949 : Mahony's Magic of America.

"In his new manuscript, Shiben Banerji examines the movement toward "global cities" in the first half of the twentieth century, particularly as an outcropping of occult philosophies like Theosophy that worked toward what practitioners called "universal brotherhood." Drawing on music, art, literature, and science, Theosophy imagined a path of self-improvement that would combat social and economic alienation. Accordingly, the view of the city that it helped foster was expansive: a city that could democratically encompass all genders, ethnicities, religions, and species. Banerji's study works to recuperate this forgotten chapter of urban design history through an examination of interlinked moments in the globalized pursuit of universal brotherhood"-- Provided by publisher.