Author Archives: Nakeita

In Class Assignment- Clarke, Lew, Brito

Capitalism & Mickey

How did Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping protest at the Disney Store work to critique of even “destroy” the commercialism and and the cultural meaning of Disney?

In the Lane reading, Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping use tactic such as “Spatathon” from the ‘Invasion Manual’ to engage audience via action and dialogue which forces the audience to participate taking the performance a real life.

 

Citations

Bryman, Alan. The Disneyization of Society, SAGE Publications, 2004. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=254754.

Gitz, Bradley R. “BRADLEY R. GITZ: Mickey and the Scientists.” NWADG.Com, //www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/oct/22/mickey-and-the-scientists-20181022-1/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

Sanders, Bernie. “Disneyland Workers Face Ruthless Exploitation. Their Fight Is Our Fight | Bernie Sanders.” The Guardian, 7 June 2018. www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/07/disneyland-workers-living-wage-disney-inequality.

“Union Protesters Seeking Higher Wages for Resort Workers March on Disneyland Gates.” The Mercury News, 15 June 2018, https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/15/union-protesters-seeking-higher-wages-for-resort-workers-march-on-disneyland-gates/.

Wattles, Jackie. “Disney Embraces $15 Minimum Wage in Negotiations with Workers.” CNNMoney, 3 June 2018, https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/03/news/companies/disney-minimum-wage/index.html.

 

Cities and The Possibility of Service Oriented Public Space

When thinking about public space in cities such as New York City, the way it is constantly ‘shared’ by people of various ethnic backgrounds, the way it is policed by law enforcement and how it is negotiated by private property owners in lieu of building restrictions and exemptions; I have a difficult time imagining cities being completely saturated in a culture where it is normal for public space to be truly utilized in ways which serve the public.

One approach to such a utopian concept would start with the employment of transparent definitions on the usage or public space, especially public spaces branded as privately owned. Reassessment retraining or possibly the abolishment of broken windows policing would also be conducive of the new cultural narrative regarding the sharing of service public space.

However, biased perception of dis-valued communities  as well as the distrust between law enforcement and underprivileged youth within those communities serve as one of the biggest road blocks towards the possibility of changing the culture of sharing and using service oriented public space.

Public Space Negotiation

Community youth in Amsterdam redesigned park proposals to suit community needs (van Heeswijk) and Occupy Wall Street protestors interpreted public allowance of Zuccotti Park (Golan) while addressing concerns of noise, sanitation and democratic political expression (Franck and Huang) to negotiate the use of public space.

In the described accounts, each space was privately owned but publicly given, therefore, it would make sense that the community in which the given space exists has authority to use the space as best fit for its needs, whether it was the giver’s intended usage or not.

The occupation of these spaces plays significant social, cultural and economic roles in redefining its usage because a space not properly planned with equal involvement of the community to whom the space was given, fails in its simple objective to serve the public.

Cultural Interventions as described by van Heewijk, have the potential to enable community engagement and contribution to spaces previously excluded. By use of cultural interventions, when local governments and real estate developers involve and learn with the community, it provides avenues for collaboration, responsibility, and sustainability, thus resulting in the transformation of those spaces.