Cultural activism in the community · Hakim Beys Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) moves this...

1

Connected Communities

Cultural activism in the community

Michael Buser & Jane Arthurs

CULTURAL ACTIVISM IN THE COMMUNITY

2

Cultural activism in the

community

Michael Buser & Jane Arthurs

Executive Summary

This discussion paper explores literature and debates on cultural activism and communities of place. Cultural activism is defined as a set of creative practices and activities which challenge dominant interpretations and constructions of the world while presenting alternative socio-political and spatial imaginaries in ways which challenge relationships between art, politics, participation and spectatorship. In our paper, we present a small range of cultural activist practices (e.g., culture jamming, subvertising, rebel clowning) which call upon irony, humour and the carnivalesque to disrupt commonly-held understandings and ways of constructing the world. Our broad aim is to tease out the ways these practices imagine and conduct ‘resistance’, present future imaginaries and engage audiences in situated community environments. In doing so, we consider how temporality and ephemerality might contribute to the development of radical, autonomous spaces and opportunities for democratic debate and political contestation. The paper also summarises associated scholarly and community-based work including the project seminar where 60 participants discussed cultural activism as well as collaborative work with activists in the Bristol neighbourhood of Stokes Croft.

Researchers and Project Partners

Michael Buser, Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the

West of England

Jane Arthurs, Director of Research, Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education,

University of the West of England

Key words

Cultural Activism; Creative Practice; Resistance; Intervention; Temporality;

Performativity; Rebel Clown; Culture Jamming;


3

Cultural activism in the community

This review examines cultural activism, a type of organising where ‘art, activism, performance and

politics meet, mingle and interact’ (Verson, 2007: 172). This includes engagement with a broad

spectrum of creative practice such as theatre, performance, music, art, poetry and literature and

other means of engaging sensory experiences as a means to challenge dominant ways of seeing and

constructing the world. Notable examples include culture jamming, subvertising, muralling, rebel

clowning, urban knitting, guerrilla urbanism, political theatre and many other whimsical, non-violent

approaches to protest and activism.

In discussing cultural activism, contemporary accounts often bypass the political activism of the

1970s and 1980s around race, immigration, feminism and women’s rights, youth, LGBT rights and

other forms of identity-based activism which also displayed both creative and political elements (see

for example, Cohen, 1993). Rather, scholarly reviews commonly situate these practices within the

lineage of the 20th century avant-garde movements of the Dadists, Surrealists (Fenton, 2004), Guy

Debord’s Society of the Spectacle (1967) and Situationists International (Ford 2005; Scholl, 2010;

Grindon 2010) as well as the counter-culture activist movements of the 1960s typified by the Diggers

and the Yippies (Firat and Kuryel, 2010).

While it is impossible to point to a single, unifying political ideology, cultural activism is commonly

framed by diverse concerns around social and environmental justice, authoritarianism, capitalism,

consumption, globalisation and the pursuit of reinvigorated lived experience. The most visible of

these efforts has been the activism surrounding the alter-globalisation and anti-capitalism

movements typified by summit disruption protests, Global Days of Action and the Occupy

movement. Our interest in this paper is to tease out implications for ‘place-based’ community

activism and environments – situating these processes in a neighbourhood orientated concept of

community activism.

This paper is framed by three broad concepts positioning cultural activism as a set of activities

which: a) challenge dominant interpretations and constructions of the world while b) presenting

alternative socio-political and spatial imaginaries c) in ways which challenge relationships between

art, politics, participation and spectatorship.


4

Challenging perspectives

As a critique of hegemonic constructions of the world, cultural activism can be seen as a practice of

cultural resistance (Duncombe, 2002). David Pinder describes cultural activism as ‘those radical and

creative practices that are ‘critical and politicized in relation to dominant power relations and their

spatial constitution’ (2008: 731). It is an activism that seeks to disrupt commonly-held assumptions

and expectations about the world.

The contemporary resurgence of cultural activism is often traced to the Zapatista Army of National

Liberation, a rebellion founded by indigenous people in the state of Chiapas, Mexico in 1994 who

sought to challenge global processes of neoliberal capitalism (Johnston, 2000; Carrigan, 1995;

Johnston and Laxer, 2003). While the initial armed uprising was quickly repressed, the Zapatista’s

ongoing struggles and global calls to resist neoliberalism inspired and energised activists around the

world (Ryan, 2008). For activists and academics alike, the Zapatistas re-defined and revised ideas

around Justice and liberty for a post-modern age, challenging subordination in Mexico by

transforming their ethnic identity ‘from fragmented, ethnically distinct communities to pluricultural

coexistence in regional and national arenas’ (Nash, 1997: 261). For some, this worldwide rebellion

and call to ‘practice Zapatismo in any way possible, in any place possible’ was a precursor to the

alter-globalism protests of the late 1990s as well as a more general reintroduction of the

‘carnivalesque’ in protest and activist movements.

In the UK, carnivalesque tactics are commonly associated with activist groups such as Reclaim the

Streets (RTS) and the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA). Founded in London in the

early 1990s, RTS famously merged protests with parties, ‘taking over streets and turning them into

pulsing, dancing, temporary carnivals in their demand for public space’ (Duncombe, 2007: 68). In

retelling the movement’s origins, John Jordon noted the emergence of ‘a new breed of artist activist’

(2002: 350) who called upon Situationist-inspired tactics of détournement – e.g., closing roads to

traffic and holding parties in the streets. This reversal of hierarchy and order – the transformation of

so-called dead motorway into living human space – was celebrated by RTS and their carnivaleque

construction of ‘a world inside out’ (Bakhtin 1973).

CIRCA, another example of ‘tactical carnival’, was founded in 2003 in response to President Bush’s

visit to the UK. Through their non-violent, clowning tactics at summit meetings and other sites of

intervention, CIRCA sought to upset accepted lines of confrontation, confusing and subverting

dominant cultural codes (Scholl, 2010) and, in the process, created ‘joyous, diverse, fluid and life

affirming’ forms of direct action and civil disobedience (St. John 2008: 179-180). As with RTS, CIRCA

used performativity, creativity, détournement and the carnivalesque towards counter-hegemonic

possibilities through interventions in specific sites.

Alternative imaginaries

For scholar-activists such as Stephen Duncombe, cultural activism’s potential is found not so much in

its critique of spectacular society but in its ability to connect with people’s dreams. For example, in

addition to disruptive interventions, RTS and CIRCA situated their activism in a positive vision of the


5

future and a change-oriented focus that was experienced in collaboration and dialogue with

particular political struggles. Duncombe (2007) envisages such ‘ethical spectacles’ – prefigurative,

participatory, open-ended, transparent and self-organising forms of activism – as attempts to bring

new worlds and possibilities into being.

Paul Routledge highlights how the practice of cultural activism can de-programme normative spatial

functions and consensus realities by articulating new imaginaries and meanings. For example, the

presence and actions of rebel clowns at summit protests temporarily transformed spaces of

intimidation and coercion into ‘clown spaces of play and mockery’ (2012: 443). This ephemeral break

with socio-spatial norms mirrors the temporary autonomous breaches RTS activists created as they

reclaimed streets for human use and enjoyment. These intentional disruptions and disorientations of

‘consensus reality’ subvert the normative functions of space through a kind of ‘festal hacking’ – ‘a

ritual of de-reification which renders power and contradiction visible at its most central and reified

sites, practices which enable the performance and construction of lived alternatives’ (St John 2008:

172).

While there is clearly evidence of durability in particular situations (e.g., Christiania in Copenhagen),

it is worth questioning the value of ‘tactical carnival’ if it is predicated on the quick dispersion of the

open spaces it creates (Bogad, 2010: 196). Further, as temporary outlets for ‘letting off steam’ and

‘sanctioned transgression’ might these activities reinforce prevailing structures of privilege and

hierarchy (St. John, 2008: 175). Reflecting on neighbourhood-based activism in Brussels, Corijn and

Groth argue that the forgotten spaces, those left aside by market and state forces (e.g., abandoned

buildings) provide unique opportunities for temporary re-appropriation and political-cultural

activism, fostering a type of insurgent urbanism which clashes with and challenges dominant

perspectives on urban meaning and regulation.

Hakim Bey’s Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) moves this politics of temporality a step further.

Advocating disappearance and permanent temporality, these ‘pirate utopias’ avoid spectacular

society altogether; ‘As soon as the TAZ is named (represented, mediated), it must vanity, it will

vanish…once again invisible because undefinable in terms of the Spectacle (Bey, 2007: 93). What is

particularly engaging about these frames is their potential to re-politicise space. For example, not

only might ephemerality circumvent or escape co-optation and recuperation, but these conditions

might also enable unique frameworks for radical thought and action through direct (temporary)

disruptive engagement with hegemonic authority or an outright refusal to participate ‘in spectacular

violence, to withdraw from the area of simulation, to disappear’. (Bey, 2007: 93). At the level of

‘neighbourhood’ or communities of place, this temporality can be seen as a possible contrast to

processes of gentrification often attributed to artists (e.g., Hoxton) and the emergence of ‘creative

quarters’ which position cultural institutions and activities as a means of urban regeneration.


6

Politics and art in cultural activism

These practices connect with longstanding debates within media and performance studies, around

the role of socially engaged art, community publics, participation and conceptions of audience

‘spectatorship’. For groups such as RTS and CIRCA, it is the very nature of open and participatory

activist encounters which lead to emancipatory moments and the development of sensuous

solidarities (Routledge 2012). Similarly, Sandlin and Milam argue that the culture jamming practices

of groups such as Adbusters and the Reverend Billy create powerful sites of learning and foster a

type of participatory, resistant cultural production. By enabling an active participation and engaging

learners corporeally, the authors argue, these creative practices hold the potential to transform

passivity into action and to draw participants into the creation of a community politic (2008: 330).

The political potential of these ‘performative encounters’ is underpinned by a belief that through

processes of active participation and reciprocal communication, each individual is capable of

instigating and propelling change (Kanngieser 2010). This activation of the individual draws upon

long-standing concerns with audience non-intervention, exemplified by the Situationists’ attempts

to eliminate passivity – a symptom of the Society of the Spectacle. Indeed, Bishop notes that since

the 1960s, artistic attempts to encourage participation have generally been associated with:

a) A desire to create an active subject, empowered by the experience of physical of symbolic

participation

b) A gesture of ceding authorial control through an egalitarian collaborative creativity.

c) A perceived crisis in community and collective responsibility (Bishop, 2006: 12)

These characteristics – where the spectator/audience is compelled to take up a position towards the

action – can be found in most cultural activist practices. However, Jacques Ranciere recently

challenged much of the contemporary Debordian discourse that treat the spectator as an ignorant or

passive figure as well as prevailing understandings which equate participation and ‘action’ with

learning, democracy and emancipation. In contrast, Ranciere claims that ‘Being a spectator is not

some passive condition that we should transform into activity. It is our normal situation’ (2012: 17).

Indeed, Bishop notes, as an artistic medium ‘participation is arguably no more intrinsically political

or oppositional than any other’ (2006: 12). The implication here is that even as spectators, we are

capable of interpretation and appropriation in ways that transcend passive/active dialectic. For

cultural activism, the challenge is to envisage ‘ethical spectacles’ in a way that does not rely solely on

active participation as a frame for questioning hegemonic discourse and opening up alternative

imaginaries.

Collaborating activities

The research team conducted two related and mutually supporting levels of collaborative activities

focusing on: research and scholarship; and community-based activism.

Scholarship: The scoping study and draft papers were presented at various stages including:

Urban knitting and the city: new uses for comfy jumpers, Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (UWE) seminar (14.02.12);

Cultural activism and the politics of place-making, Planning Research Conference


7

(Birmingham) 13.04.12)

Beyond the rebel clowns: cultural activism and place-making, Digital Cultures Research Centre (UWE) seminar (02.05.12)

Cultural activism and the politics of place-making, Interpretive Policy Analysis Conference, Tilburg, Netherlands (06.07.12)

Spectacular activism, project workshop, Bristol (04.09.12) The project workshop was held in Bristol on 4 September 2012 and brought together ~60

participants across the disciplines of urban studies, activism, art, sociology, psychosocial studies,

women’s studies, media studies, performance studies, and cultural geography. The aim was to

strengthen interdisciplinary exchange and generate enthusiasm for a new research agenda around

the notion of cultural activism in communities. Themes which emerged included:

inadequate communication between literatures related to cultural activism, community, and

cultural resistance

a number of unresolved tensions: solidarity/exclusion; insiders/outsiders; resistance/co-

optation; formality/informality; temporality/permanence

Conflicts between role of the university and the researcher, activists, communities and

activist-scholars in understanding or participating in activist processes.

A specific debate related to time including notions of ‘when to act’ as well as comprehensive

and durable framings of art/activism (as opposed to the traditional ‘double-take’ or shock

effect).

Further information (and presentations) can be found on the website:

http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/et/research/sustainablepe/projects/culturalactivism.aspx

Community-based activism: included outreach and discussions with artists and activists in Stokes

Croft, Bristol (People’s Supermarket, Coexist and the Community Kitchen at Hamilton House, the

Bearpit Improvement Group, the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, and the Matthew Tree Project).

In addition, we brought symposium participants to Stokes Croft for a tour and discussion with local

groups engaged with cultural activism where we explored sites of transformation and spoke about

the role of art and creativity in social and urban change.

A follow-up initiative is currently underway in collaboration with the Bearpit Improvement Group (a

community interest company run by a group of volunteers seeking to transform the St James Barton

Roundabout (known colloquially at the Bearpit) at the edge of Stokes Croft into a welcoming, safe,

diverse and inclusive space). Working with local artists we are developing a series of temporary arts

interventions to challenge assumptions about the bearpit as a derelict, dangerous site while

supporting creative ways of re-imagining conviviality. We seek to use these interventions to present

a positive vision of the future that does not rely on consumption, but rather, celebrates the sharing

and human exchange aspects of being in urban public spaces.

These dialogues formed an important part of the project thinking and provided useful insights

including: the diversity of (often contradictory) activist identities; the supportive, nurturing

relationships between creative practice and place; the role of collaboration and cooperation within



8

and beyond activist networks (and an associated distaste for conflict); and a sense of impermanence

often due to activist-burnout, financial challenges and a range of life-course events.

Recommendations for future research

Key lessons and recommendations for future investigation:

Emotions, affect and ‘sensuous solidarities’: In Stokes Croft we found that passion, the embodied

nature of activist practices, and strong affective experiences contributed to the strengthening of

social bonds, solidarity and shared understandings about place. However, these collective identities

also contributed to exclusion in certain sites. Investigations into emotional and affective experiences

could help draw out notions of place, community and identity within activist/performative

environments. This might also include understandings of activist burnout, the role of professionals

and volunteers and issues of trust related to divergent positioning as well as the potential

exclusionary characteristics of cultural activist practices.

DIY Community activism: Within the context of fiscal crisis, austerity and social unrest, DIY activism

is sometimes seen (paradoxically) as part and parcel of ‘good’ neoliberal capitalism. In such a

condition, resistance and the search for ‘alternative imaginaries’ often gives way to collaboration,

compromise and other means of ‘getting the job done’. This reflects a notable fluidity between

concepts such as resistance/co-optation; insider/outsider; solidarity/exclusion and so on which

provide ample space for further enquiry.

Communities of temporality: the radical and transformative potential of cultural activism is often

situated in ‘moments’ of disruption. Might such moments, freezones and temporary autonomous

zones actively support a re-invigorated radical democratic practice? What do they offer for the re-

politicalisation of urban life? How do activists (and academics) transform disruptive moments into

longer term commitments and sustainable change?

Participation and spectatorship: cultural activists use creative practice and performativity to

challenge dominant or hegemonic constructions of the world and to advance social and

environmental goals. These practices are steeped in assumptions and expectations about audience

behaviour and an equation of passivity with ignorance and active participation with learning and

emancipation. Ranciere and others argue for a more nuanced engagement with spectatorship and

an exploration of other ways of learning and knowing. There is a great opportunity to draw these

debates into communication with disciplines concerned with democracy and participation such as

urban studies and politics.

Working across disciplines: The value and difficulty of this type of work was made clear at our

seminar. In addition to language and vocabulary challenges, we noted a divergence of assumptions

related outputs as well as more conceptual understandings of values and epistemological framings.

However, we imagine this as a line of flight – a process of becoming which requires an element of

risk-taking and displacement from disciplinary norms.


9

References

ARTURO, E., 2001. Culture sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, 20(2), pp. 139-174.

BAKHTIN, M., 1973. Rabelais and his world. (H. Iswolsky, Translation edn) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

BEALI, J., 2006. Cultural weapons: traditions, inventions and the transition to democratic governance in metropolitan Durban. Urban Studies, 43(2), pp. 457-473.

BEY, H., 2007. The Temporary Autonomous Zone; Ontological Anarchy; Poetic Terrorism. BilblioBazaar.

BISHOP, C., ed, 2006. Participation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

BRANAGAN, M., 2007. The last laugh: humour in community activism. Community Development Journal, 42(4), pp. 470-481.

BROWN, G. and PICKERILL, J., 2009. Space for emotion in the spaces of activism. Emotion, Space and Society, 2(1), pp. 24-35.

BURTON-CARTLEDGE, P., 2006. Local Actions: Cultural Activism, Power, and Public Life in America ? Edited by Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman. The Sociological review, 54(3), pp. 598-602.

CACERES, C.F., OLIVOS, F., SALAZAR, X. and PEREZ-LUNA, G., 2007. Art and human rights: Cultural activism against stigma affecting HIV and sexual diversity in Peru. Culture Health & Sexuality, 9, pp. S12-S13.

CARRIGAN, A., 1995. Chipas: the First Postmodern Revolution. Fletcher Forum of Wold Affairs, 19(1), pp. 71-98.

CHANGFOOT, N., 2006. Local activism and neoliberalism: performing neoliberal citizenship as resistance Studies in Political Economy, 80, pp. 129-149.

CHATTERTON, P., 2008. Demand the possible: journeys in changing our world as a public activist-scholar. Antipode, 40(3), pp. 421-427.

CHATTERTON, P., 2000. Will the real Creative City please stand up? City, 4(3), pp. 390-397.

CHATTERTON, P. and PICKERILL, J., 2010. Everyday activism and transitions towards post-capitalist worlds. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35, pp. 475-490.

CHATTERTON, P. and RYAN, R., 2008. ¡Ya Basta! The Zapatista struggle for autonomy revisited City, 12(1), pp. 115-125.

CHESTERS, G. 2003a. Shapeshifting: civil society, complexity and social movements. Anarchist Studies, 11(1): 42–65

CHESTERS, G 2003b, New Modes of Struggle in the Alternative Globalization Movement, in Johns, S. and Thompson, S., (eds), New Activism and The Corporate Response, London: Palgrave.

CLOVER, D., 2007. Feminist aesthetic practice of community development: the case of Myths and Mirrors in Community Arts. Community Development Journal, 42(4), pp. 512-522.


10

COHEN, A., 1993. Masquerade Politics: Explorations in the Structure of Urban Cultural Movements. Oxford: Berg.

CONKLIN, B.A., 1997. Body paint, feathers, and VCRs: aesthetics and authenticity in Amazonian activism. AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, 24(4), pp. 711-737.

CORIJN, E. and GROTH, J., 2011. The Need for Freezones: informal actors setting the urban agenda. In: L. DE CAUTER, R. DE ROO and K. VANHAESEBROUCK, eds, Art and Activism in the Age of Globalization: Reflect No. 8. Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, pp. 146-159.

CREASAP, K., 2012. Social Movement Scenes: Place-Based Politics and Everyday Resistance. Sociology Compass, 6(2), pp. 182-191.

CUMBERS, A., ROUTLEDGE, P. and NATIVEL, C., 2008. The Entangled Geographies of Global Justice Networks. Progress in Human Geography, 32(2), pp. 183-202.

DA COSTA, B., 2008. Tactical biopolitics : art, activism, and technoscience. MIT.

DE CAUTER, L., DE ROO, R. and VANHAESEBROUCK, K., eds, 2011. Art and Activism in the Age of Globalization. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers.

DEBORD, G., (1967) 2009. Society of the Spectacle. Sussex: Soul Bay Press, LTD.

DEFILIPPIS, J., FISHER, R. and SHRAGGE, E., 2010. Contesting Community: the Limits and Potential of Local Organizing. New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press.

DICKENS, L., 2010. Pictures on walls? Producing, pricing and collecting the street art screen print. City, 14(1-2), pp. 63-81.

DICKENS, L., 2008. Placing post-graffiti: the journey of the Peckham Rock. Cultural Geographies, 15, pp. 471-496.

DUFOUR, K., 2002. Art as Activism, Activism as Art. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, 24(1), pp. 157.

DUNCOMBE, S., 2007. (From) Cultural resistance to community development. Community Development Journal, 42(4), pp. 490-500.

DUNCOMBE, S., ed, 2002. Cultural resistance reader. Verso.

ESCOBAR, A., 2001. Culture sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, 20(2), pp. 139-174.

FEATHERSTONE, D., 2008. Resistance, Space and Political Identities. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

FIRAT, B.Ö. and KURYEL, A., eds, 2010. Cultural Activism: Practices, Dilemmas, and Possibilities. Thamyris/Intersecting Place, Sex and Race No. 21. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V.

FORD, S., 2005. The Situationist International: a user's guide. London: Black Dog Publishing.

FUNG, R., 2002. Antiracist activism in the arts community: Afterword. ESSAYS ON CANADIAN WRITING, (75), pp. 240-245.

GEWURTZ, M., 2009. Cultural Activism Today. The Art of Over-Identification. PARALLAX, 15(4), pp. 124-127.


11

GIARDINA, M.D. and DENZIN, N.K., 2011. Acts of Activism - Politics of Possibility: Toward a New Performative Cultural Poltics. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 11(4), pp. 319-327.

GILCHRIST, P. and RAVENSCROFT, N., 2012. Space hijacking and the anarcho-politics of leisure Leisure Studies, pp. 1-20.

GINSBURG, F., 1997. 'From Little Things, Big Things Grow': Indigenous Media and cultural Activism. In: RICHARD G. FOX, ORIN STARN, ed, Between Resistance and Revolution: Cultural Politics and Social Protest. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, pp. 118-144.

GOLDMAN, P., 2007. ‘Imagining Ourselves’: Cultural Activism for Women through Technology and New Media. Museum International, 59(4), pp. 80-87.

GONZÁLEZ, S. and VIGAR, G., 2008. Community influence and the contemporary local state: potentials and contradictions in the neo-liberal city. City, 12(1), pp. 64-78.

GOTHAM, K.F. and KRIER, D.A., 2008. From the culture industry to the society of the spectacle: Critical theory and the situationist international. Current Perspectives in Social Theory, 25, pp. 155-192.

HAROLD, C., 2004. Pranking rhetoric: “culture jamming” as media activism. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 21(3), pp. 211.

HOLLANDS, R., 2009. Cultural workers of the world unite, you've nothing to lose but your theatres. City, 13(1), pp. 139-145.

HOWARD-SPINK, S., 2004. Grey Tuesday, online cultural activism and the mash-up of music and politics. First Monday, 9(10), pp. 0-0.

IBRAHIM, Y., 2009. Understanding the Alternative Globalisation Movement Sociology Compass, 3(3), pp. 394 -416.

IVESON, K., 2010. Some critical reflections on being critical: reading for deviance, dominance or difference? City, 14(4), pp. 434-441.

JOHNSTON, J., 2000. Pedagogical guerrillas, armed democrats, and revolutionary counterpublics: Examining paradox in the Zapatista unprising in Chiapas Mexico Theory and Society, 29(4), pp. 463-505.

JOHNSTON, J. and LAXER, G., 2003. Solidarity in the Age of Globalization: Lessons from the Anti-MAI and Zapatista Struggles. Theory and Society, 32(1), pp. 39-91.

JORDAN, J., 2002. The Art of Necessity; the Subversive Imagination of Anti-road Protest and Reclaim the Streets. In: S. DUNCOMBE, ed, Cultural Resistance Reader. London: Verso, pp. 347-357.

KANNGIESER, A., 2010. Breaking Out of the Specialist “Ghetto”: Performative Encounters as Participatory Praxis in Radical Politics . In: B.Ö. FIRAT and A. KURYEL, eds, Thamyris/Intersecting Place, Sex and Race No 21. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V., pp. 115-136.

KERSHAW, B., 2003. Curiosity or contempt: On spectacle, the human, and activism. THEATRE JOURNAL, 55(4), pp. 591-611.

KESTER, G.H., 1998. Art, activism and oppositionality: essays from Afterimage. London: Duke University Press.


12

KODISH, D., 2011. Envisioning Folklore Activism. Journal of American Folklore, (124.491), pp. 31-60.

LAI, M.Y., 2010. Dancing to different tunes: Performance and activism among migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. WOMENS STUDIES INTERNATIONAL FORUM, 33(5), pp. 501-511.

LARSEN, S.C., 2008. Place making, grassroots organizing, and rural protest: a case study of Anahim Lake, British Columbia. Journal of Rural Studies, 24, pp. 172-181.

LECHAUX, B., 2010; 2010. Non-Preaching Activism in New York. The Theatrical Militancy of Billionaires for Bush and Reverend Billy International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 23(2-3), pp. 175-190.

LEITNER, H., SHEPPARD, E. and SZIARTO, K.M., 2008. The spatialities of contentious politics. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 33(2), pp. 157-172.

LITTLER, J., 2005. Beyond the boycott - Anti-consumerism, cultural change and the limits of reflexivity. CULTURAL STUDIES, 19(2), pp. 227-252.

LLOYD, M., 2007. Radical Democratic Activism and the Politics of Resignification. Constellations, 14(1), pp. 129-146.

MACPHEE, J. and REULAND, E., eds, 2007. Realizing the Impossible: art against authority. Oakland, CA: AK Press.

MERRIFIELD, A., 2011. The right to the city and beyond: Notes on a Lefebvrian re-conceptualization. City, 15(3-4), pp. 473-481.

MERRIFIELD, A., 2005. Guy Debord. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.

METH, P., 2010. Unsettling insurgency: reflections on women's insurgent practices in South Africa. Planning Theory and Practice, 11(2), pp. 241-263.

METZGER, J., 2011. Strange spaces: A rationale for bringing art and artists into the planning process. Planning Theory, 10(3), pp. 213-238.

MURTOLA, A., 2012. Materialist theology and anti-capitalist resistance, or, 'What would Jesus buy? Organization, 19(3), pp. 325-344.

NARISMULU, P., 2003. Examining the undisclosed margins: Postcolonial intellectuals and subaltern voices. CULTURAL STUDIES, 17(1), pp. 56-84.

NASH, J., 1997. The Fiesta of the Word: The Zapatista Uprising and Radical Democracy in Mexico. American Anthropologist, 99(2), pp. 261-274.

NICHOLLS, W., 2009. Place, networks, space: theorising the geographies of social movements. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 34, pp. 78-93.

NOTES FROM NOWHERE ed. 2003. We Are Everywhere: the irresistible rise of global anti-capitalism. London: Verso Books.

NOYES PLATT, S., 2010. Art and politics now. New York: Midmarch Arts Press.

OLESEN, V., 2011. Not Without a Shout. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 11(4), pp. 403-405.


13

OVERELL, R., 2009. The Pink Palace, policy and power: Home-making practices and gentrification in Northcote. CONTINUUM-JOURNAL OF MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES, 23(5), pp. 681-695.

PEMBROKE, L., 2007. Recovery and arts as activism. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 14(8), pp. 768-770.

PHU, T., 2009. Voices Rising: Asian Canadian Cultural Activism. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY, 78(1), pp. 414-415.

PIERCE, J., MARTIN, D.G. and MURPHY, J.T., 2011. Relational place-making: the networked politics of place. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 36, pp. 54-70.

PIETRZYK, S., 2011. For our rights/we will rise: cultural activism and contesting the collapsing city. Journal of Developing Societies, 27(3&4), pp. 393-420.

PIETRZYK, S., 2009. Artistic activities and cultural activism as responses to HIV/AIDS in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ajar-African Journal of Aids Research, 8(4), pp. 481-490.

PINDER, D., 2008. Urban interventions: Art, politics and pedagogy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, 32(3), pp. 730-736.

PINDER, D., 2000. "Old Paris is no more": Geographies of spectacle and anti-spectacle. Antipode, 32(4), pp. 357-386.

PORTALIOU, E., 2007. Anti-global movements reclaim the city. City, 11(2), pp. 165-175.

RANCIERE, J., 2009. The Emancipated Spectator. London and New York: Verso.

RANKIN, K.N., 2009. Critical development studies and the praxis of planning City, 13(2-3), pp. 219-229.

RICHTER, A., 2010. Gentrification will eat itself. Taking theory to the playground: Lefebvre for kids. City, 14(4), pp. 464-469.

ROUTLEDGE, P., 2012. Sensuous solidarities: emotion, politics and performance in the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army. Antipode, 44(2), pp. 428-452.

ROUTLEDGE, P., 2009. Transnational Resistance: Global Justice Networks and Spaces of Convergence. Geography Compass, 3(5), pp. 1881-1901.

ROUTLEDGE, P., 2003. Convergence space: process geographies of grassroots globalization networks. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 28(3), pp. 333-349.

ROUTLEDGE, P., CUMBERS, A. and NATIVEL, C., 2007. Grassrooting network imaginaries: relationality, power, and mutual solidarity in global justice networks. Environment and Planning A, 39, pp. 2575-2592.

RYAN, R., 2008. The Zapatistas, autonomy and utopian space. City: analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, 12(1), pp. 116-121.

SANDLIN, J.A., 2007. Popular culture, cultural resistance, and anticonsumption activism: An exploration of culture jamming as critical adult education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2007(115), pp. 73-82.


14

SANDLIN, J.A. and MILAM, J.L., 2008. ?Mixing Pop (Culture) and Politics?: Cultural Resistance, Culture Jamming, and Anti-Consumption Activism as Critical Public Pedagogy. Curriculum Inquiry, 38(3), pp. 323-350.

SCHOLL, C., 2010. Bakunin's poor cousins: Engaging art for tactical interventions. In: B.Ö. FIRAT and A. KURYEL, eds, Thamyris/Intersecting Place, Sex and Race No 21. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V., pp. 157-178.

SHENG, K.C. and KIRBY, M.S., 2009. Media Literacy Art Education: Logos, culture jamming and Activism. Art Education, 62(1), pp. 34-39.

SOREN C., L., 2008. Place making, grassroots organizing, and rural protest: A case study of Anahim Lake, British Columbia. Journal of Rural Studies, 24(2), pp. 172-181.

SPRINGGAY, S., 2010. Knitting as an Aesthetic of Civic Engagement: Re-conceptualizing Feminist Pedagogy through Touch. Feminist Teacher, 20(2), pp. 111-123.

ST JOHN, G., 2008. Protestival: Global Days of Action and Carnivalized Politics in the Present Social Movement Studies, 7(2), pp. 167-190.

STAHLER-SHOLK, R., 2010. The Zapatista Social Movement: Innovation and Sustainability Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 35(3), pp. 269-290.

SWARTZ, J., 2010. Space-Run Artists: Cultural Activism in Contemporary Barcelona. Leonardo, 43(1), pp. 6-7.

TALEN, B., What Should I Do If Reverend Billy Is in My Store? New York: The New Press.

UITERMARK, J., 2004. Looking Forward by Looking Back: May Day Protests in London and the Strategic Significance of the Urban Antipode, 36(4), pp. 706-727.

VERSON, J., 2007. Why we need cultural activism. In: TRAPESE COLLECTIVE, ed, Do it yourself. A handbook for changing the world. London: pp. 171-186.

WALTERS, S., 2011. Everyday life, everyday death: Race, gender, and third-wave cultural activism on Six Feet Under's online fansite. Feminist Media Studies, 11(3), pp. 363-378.

XIAOPING, L., 2007. Voices Rising: Asian Canadian Cultural Activism. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

External Links

Project web sites:

UWE site:


Michael’s wordpress site:

http://culturalactivism.wordpress.com/

The Bearpit Improvement Group

http://www.the-bear-pit.org.uk/


15

The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft

http://www.prsc.org.uk/

A few cultural activist groups and relevant information on the web:

Adbusters

https://www.adbusters.org/

Center for Artistic Activism (Stephen Duncombe co-founder)

http://artisticactivism.org/

Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA)

http://www.clownarmy.org/index.html

Platform (arts, activism, education, research)

http://platformlondon.org/

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

http://www.revbilly.com/

The Yes Men

http://theyesmen.org/

Zapatista Army of National Liberation

http://www.ezln.org.mx/ (in Spanish)

Definitions

Carnivalesque: a phrase attributed to Mikhail Bakhtin (Rabelais and His World, 1965) and his analysis

of medieval carnival and folk humour which called upon ‘obscenity, hyperbole, abuse, mockery and

profanity...to undermine the hierarchy of the Church, Crown, and State...’ (Weaver 2010: 36). In the

contemporary, cultural activist context, the carnivalesque is generally associated with non-violent

performative protests which use humour, irony, parody and mockery to challenge dominant

corporate and state activities.

Culture Jamming: Coined by the band Negitiveland in reference to the illegal interruption of the

signals of ham radio (Sandlin and Milam, 2008), the term culture jamming typically refers to a

resistance to consumer culture and efforts to subvert or transform the media landscape. It is an

activity that seeks to counter the ‘continuous, recombinant barrage of capitalist messages fed

through the mass media’ (Handelman, 1999: 399), recreating commercial culture in order to

transform society. This recreation is accomplished as activists alter or inscribe ‘new meanings on

previously existing cultural objects for the purpose of critique’ (Irzik, 2010: 145). As such, it is an act

of resisting and re-creating commercial culture in order to transform society. Notable culture

jammers include Adbusters, the Yes Men, and the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.

Culture jamming includes activities such as billboard liberation, the creation and dissemination of


16

anti-advertising ‘subvertisements’ and participation in DIY political theatre and shopping

interventions (Sandlin and Milam, 2008: 225).

Détournement: literally, a ‘turning around’ but can also mean diversion, rerouting, corruption, and

hijacking. Described by Debord and the SI as ‘involving the transformation of both everyday

ephemera, such as advertisement slogans and comic strips, and significant cultural products, such as

quotations from Marx and old master paintings...Clashing head-on with all social and legal

conventions, it cannot fail to be a powerful cultural weapon in the service of a real class struggle’

(Ford 2005: 36). See also Situationist International “Definitions” (1958).

Situationist International: Avant-garde cultural-political and radical art movement (formed in 1957,

disbanded in 1972) led by Guy Debord. The movement opposed the ‘spectacle character of capitalist

societies by creating playful situations that intervened in the daily reproduction of capitalist culture’

(Scholl 2010: 177)

Society of the Spectacle: a concept used by Debord and the SI to describe the way ‘relations

between images were progressively replacing intersubjective relationships between individuals and

collective bodies (and vice versa) as cultural and social experience circulated in a regime of

commodities. Thus, the spectacle acted to mediate social relations between individuals, isolating

them from everyday life much in the same way that capitalist economy isolates the producer form

the commodity and its dissemination’ (Kanngieser 2010: 121). In the spectacle, ‘media and

consumer society replace lived experience, the passive gaze of images supplants active social

participation, and new forms of alienation induce social atomization at a more abstract level than in

previous societies’ (Gotham and Krier 2008: 155)

Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ): Concept attributed to Hakim Bey in which he called upon

historical descriptions of ‘pirate utopias’ in order to outline a resistance strategy based in permanent

temporality – unnamed, unrepresented and vanishing intentional communities. ‘The TAZ is like an

uprising which does not engage directly with the State, a guerrilla operation which liberates an

area…and then dissolves itself to reform elsewhere / elsewhen, before the state can crush it’ (Bey

1985:117).

1

The Connected Communities

Connected Communities is a cross-Council Programme being led by the AHRC in partnership

with the EPSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC and a range of external partners. The current vision for

the Programme is:

“to mobilise the potential for increasingly inter-connected, culturally diverse,

communities to enhance participation, prosperity, sustainability, health & well-being by

better connecting research, stakeholders and communities.”

Further details about the Programme can be found on the AHRC’s Connected Communities web

pages at:

www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Pages/connectedcommunities.aspx

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Pages/connectedcommunities.aspx

Cultural activism in the community · Hakim Beys Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) moves this...

Documents

Transcript of Cultural activism in the community · Hakim Beys Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) moves this...