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Sam Binkley newsletter designer Emerson University Dan Cook George Ritzer Mike
Ryan Statement
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by
Frederick F. Wherry
Large retailers such as Pier-1 Imports, World Market, and Ten Thousand Villages, to name but a few, have emerged as major players in the market for handicrafts. According to the database of artisanal products maintained by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2003 the global export of wooden furniture generated $US 16.6 billion; ceramics, $US 1.4 billion; candles and tapers, $1.4 billion; and artificial flowers, $US 1.3 billion. Although handicraft artisans constitute a significant segment of the world economy, little is known about how the different countries these artisans populate gain a comparative advantage from branding culture. I argue that the conventional understanding that "those who can, do" fails to explore the connection between private matters (talent, traditions, skill) and public issues (national orientations to different representations of culture) [Swidler 1986; Biggart and Guillen 1999]. |
The Dead Hand of Disney by
Susan Davis
It's a strange thing
when a letter from the school principal arrives on lime green and aqua
stationery. Stranger still when the postmark is Burbank, California, and
the return address reads "Imagineer That!"But it was real. The
communique trumpeted "Disney Channel is coming to our school to help
spark our creativity" in a pre-packaged 90-minute assembly. "Imagineer That!
The Creativity Adventure" is designed to "help empower students
to unleash their creative powers." It folds "an imagination
skills building workshop" and a sighting of Disney Channel star Ricky
Ullman into the middle-school day, and follows up with a celebratory evening
"wrap party." Full participation is guaranteed by a chance to
win a family vacation to (where else?) Walt Disney World. The principal
described this hoopla as "a fantastic opportunity." The "Disney
Hand," as the corporate office that provided this opportunity is
called, is devoted to extending Disney into every crevice of life, branding
the company by creating emotional relationships with consumers. And our
floundering, underfunded, overstressed public schools and their captive
audiences provide the perfect gateway.
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I witnessed a most extraordinary social occasion a number of years ago. At my place of work located in a business office, I observed a number of women sitting in a semi-circle facing one woman in the center who was receiving gifts, one-by-one, from the others. With the opening of each present, a chorus of "oohs" and "ahhhs" of approval circulated through the crowd. The extraordinary aspect of this event was that many of the gifts were
being given to someone who was not present
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