The Cultural Politics Of Markets

'I know of no other book which so effectively addresses the question of culture and development in the contemporary global scene and speaks to both planners and anthropologists alike.' David Holmberg, Cornell University'An outstanding study of the impact of economic liberalisation in Nepali society.' Professor John Harriss, Director of the Development Studies Insitute, London School of Economics'With this careful unpacking of the neo-liberal tenet that market access equals social opportunity Katharine Rankin makes a significant contribution to the vibrant growth of new research.' Katherine Gibson, The Australian National University'A classic study of the interaction between market and non-market relations.' Ben Fine, Professor of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of LondonThis book is a study of the social embeddedness of markets, in an era when the ideology of the 'free market' governs development as much as trade.Using a wide theoretical framework that encompasses both anthropology and geography, Katharine Rankin critiques neoliberal approaches to development, showing that the capitalist market will always be linked to local social structures and cultures of value. Market-led development, therefore, does not necessarily expand opportunity; rather it can deepen existing injustic and inequality.Using the example of a 'traditional' Newar market town located in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, Rankin explores how the 'value' ascribed to social prestige relates to economic opportunity. Showing how those in subordinate social locations are positioned to critique inequality, Rankin argues that planners should pursue progressive notions of development that recognise the critical resources within culture.

In a neoliberal era, when the ideology of the free market governs community development as much as international trade, a conflict between capital and tradition is inevitable. Issues such as the value ascribed to honour and social prestige are difficult to negotiate with economic opportunity. Using the example of a 'traditional' Nepalese market town, Katharine Neilson Rankin explores how economic liberalization has blended with local cultures of value. Utilizing the ethnographic method of anthropology and the comparative and normative thrust of geography, Rankin undertakes a critique of neoliberal approaches to development. She demonstrates how market-led development does not expand opportunity, but rather deepens existing injustice and inequality, which is further exacerbated by planners – eager to implement market-led approaches – relying on naively idealistic notions of 'social capital' to expand poor people's access to the market. The Cultural Politics of Markets makes a clear case for a strategic merger between anthropological and planning perspectives in thinking about the issue of market transformation.

Art and the Challenge of Markets Volumes 1 & 2 examine the politics of art and culture in light of the profound changes that have taken place in the world order since the 1980s and 1990s. The contributors explore how in these two decades, the neoliberal or market-based model of capitalism started to spread from the economic realm to other areas of society. As a result, many aspects of contemporary Western societies increasingly function in the same way as the private enterprise sector under traditional market capitalism. The first volume of this two-volume collection considers a broad range of national cultural policies from European and North American countries, and examines the strengthening of international and transnational art worlds in music, visual arts, film, and television. The chapters cover cultural policy and political culture in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, the Nordic countries, the Balkans, and Slovenia, and address the extent to which Western nations have shifted from welfare-state to market-based ideologies. Tensions between centres and peripheries in global art worlds are considered, as well as complex interactions between nations and international and transnational art worlds, and regional variations in the audiovisual market. Both volumes provide students and scholars across a range of disciplines with an incisive, comparative overview of the politics of art and culture and national, international and transnational art worlds in contemporary capitalism.

First published in 1989, Cultural Politics in Contemporary America is a radical attempt to lay out the complex ways in which the American media and American culture is powerfully interlocked. At the end of the 20th century, the media exerted an overwhelming influence on the formation of social identity through the production and consumption of images. The Hollywood Presidency of Ronald Reagan was founded on the skills of the ‘Great Communicator’; Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ was used by Chrysler Corporation to assure that ‘the pride is back’; feminists and right-wing militants converged to oppose pornography. The media, American culture, and political power were bound together in a gamble, the stakes of which increased daily. ‘Cultural Politics’ incorporates the struggles of race, gender and class; the economy of the commercial media system; the myths of hegemony and imperialism; the crises of privacy and of the intellectual; and such diverse issues as postmodernism, the American automobile, advertising as communication, and television. While political actors have changed and media technology has advanced rapidly, the outcome of this research still holds true for the 21st century and is of importance to students of media studies, cultural studies, postmodernism, postcolonial studies and political science.

This book is about the death of the garment industry in Nepal and the Maoist-led labour uprising that followed.

Just as the Canada's rich past resists any singular narrative, there is no such thing as a singular Canadian food tradition. This new book explores Canada's diverse food cultures and the varied relationships that Canadians have had historically with food practices in the context of community, region, nation and beyond. Based on findings from menus, cookbooks, government documents, advertisements, media sources, oral histories, memoirs, and archival collections, Edible Histories offers a veritable feast of original research on Canada's food history and its relationship to culture and politics. This exciting collection explores a wide variety of topics, including urban restaurant culture, ethnic cuisines, and the controversial history of margarine in Canada. It also covers a broad time-span, from early contact between European settlers and First Nations through the end of the twentieth century. Edible Histories intertwines information of Canada's 'foodways' – the practices and traditions associated with food and food preparation – and stories of immigration, politics, gender, economics, science, medicine and religion. Sophisticated, culturally sensitive, and accessible, Edible Histories will appeal to students, historians, and foodies alike.

Contemporary Black American Cinema offers a fresh collection of essays on African American film, media, and visual culture in the era of global multiculturalism. Integrating theory, history, and criticism, the contributing authors deftly connect interdisciplinary perspectives from American studies, cinema studies, cultural studies, political science, media studies, and Queer theory. This multidisciplinary methodology expands the discursive and interpretive registers of film analysis. From Paul Robeson's and Sidney Poitier's star vehicles to Lee Daniels's directorial forays, these essays address the career legacies of film stars, examine various iterations of Blaxploitation and animation, question the comedic politics of "fat suit" films, and celebrate the innovation of avant-garde and experimental cinema.

Bringing together a multidisciplinary team of scholars, this book explores the importance of ethnicity and cultural economy in the post-Fordist city in the Americas. It argues that cultural, political and economic elites make use of cultural and ethnic elements in city planning and architecture in order to construct a unique image of a particular city and demonstrates how the use of ethnicized cultural production - such as urban branding based on local identities - by the economic elite raises issues of considerable concern in terms of local identities, as it deploys a practical logic of capital exchange that can overcome forms of cultural resistance and strengthen the hegemonic colonization of everyday life. At the same time, it shows how ethnic communities are able to use ethnic labelling of cultural production, ethnic economy or ethno-tourism facilities in order to change living conditions and to empower its members in ways previously impossible. Of wide ranging interest across academic disciplines, this book will be a useful contribution to Inter-American studies.