Displaying Garbage: Installations as Spaces of Domination and Resistance

Abstract

Contemporary artistic installations presenting the detritus of everyday life are an increasingly popular method of raising awareness of what we produce, consume, and throw away. As social critique, these displays examine the political and economic causes and consequences of waste production and resulting ecological degradation. Drawing on Herbert Marcuse’s conceptions of aesthetics, liberation, and ecology in capitalism, this article attempts to discern where we might find hope, encouragement, and active imagination of another possible future through artistic installations. This article cautions that garbage art may both open and close off creative and imaginative spaces for transformation to a liberated society. Differentiating between two categories of art installations, this article explores how installations can reflect back to us our complicated relationship with waste and consumer culture, raising questions as to how the aesthetic realm might serve as a springboard for critique of capitalism.     

„Outstanding universal value“. Die Arbeit an der Universalisierung des Wertvollen im UNESCO-Welterbe

The UNESCO World Heritage List is an international inventory of natural and cultural sites that are, according to the conception of its initiators and administrators, of importance for mankind as a whole. The evaluation of the list can be interpreted as a specific form of the social production of the valuable. Focusing on the cultural sites, the paper argues that the production of World Heritage renders a form of practical universalization of the value of particular goods. It centres on the questions of how a site is produced as culturally valuable, how its value is universalized, and what role is played by the concept of authenticity in the process. Two aspects of the evaluation practice are examined with regards to the production of universalization: working with and working on the assessment criteria. It is shown that universality and particularity are interwoven in this practice.     

Zur Europäisierung der Handlungs- und Einstellungshorizonte: Ein makrosoziologischer Vergleich der EU-Mitgliedstaaten

Building on the transactionalist paradigm in the tradition of Karl W. Deutsch as well as on Arndt Sorge’s theory of tiered social spaces, this study examines why everyday actions and attitudes are more centered on Europe (i.?e. “Europeanized”) in some EU member states than in others. Analyzing a variety of survey data on the EU-27 countries with partial correlation models, it is shown that the macro-level determinants of Europeanization differ between actions and attitudes. While actions are more Europe-centered in small and affluent countries, attitudes are more Europe-centered in post-communist states as well as in countries that are located in the geographical center of the EU and that do not have a protestant religious tradition. Contrary to transactionalist theory, the Europeanization of actions does not coincide with the Europeanization of attitudes: “doing Europe” and “feeling Europe” do not go hand in hand.     

Institutionelle Arbeit am Konflikt – ein Beitrag zur Transnationalisierung der Arbeitsbeziehungen?

Although political decisions and the mobility of capital have advanced the integration of markets at the European and the global level, durable transnational bargaining relationships between labor and capital remain rare. Drawing on case studies in two automobile companies the article explores whether and how class-based conflicts are institutionalized in the transnational social space of European industry. Concepts are borrowed from the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and neo-institutionalism to develop a relational, space-sensitive understanding of power lacking in existing perspectives, such as the power resource approach. This allows for a better grasp of the institutions shaping transnational employment relations in the two studied companies, Volkswagen and General Motors-Opel, as well as of the differing stability of these institutions.     

Educating Asian International Students: Toward a Transcultural Paradigm

A large amount of literature critiquing the nature and practice of higher education has emerged in the wake of globalisation. This special issue represents a range of intellectual debates around the challenges facing educators in globalised higher institutions, especially where Asian international students are concerned. Read together, the four articles contribute to an emerging body of critical research which de-essentialises solid forms of educational imaginary and embraces heterogeneity of knowledge domains and pedagogy in the ever-changing universe. With a shared vision of providing a high quality, equitable, and global learning experience for all students, these papers interrelate through four parameters: (1) pluralising the disciplinary knowledge base and diversifying curricula and programmes for all students to serve the global community, (2) calling for a progressive pedagogy which takes into account the ‘transcultural’ flow of knowledge on campus and offers students an equal access to quality-orientated education, (3) problematising the ‘imagineering’ of study abroad and proposing a reshaping of research and teaching practices away from a ‘pure’ cultural and intercultural preparation of mobile students and cultural essentialism, and (4) taking into consideration of the fluidity and personal agencies and internationalising effect of international students and moving beyond methodological nationalism.     

‘Critical Thinking’ and Pedagogical Implications for Higher Education

Global higher education is now situated in an open information environment in which national borders are routinely crossed and cultural identities are constantly shaped through encounters with diverse others. With over 4.5 million students on the move, pedagogical implications are potentially profound to the knowledge structure which so far has been largely affected by a single-dimensional version of history. Located at the very centre of current critical debates on higher educational pedagogy is the most contested issue of ‘critical thinking’ which has been credited as the essential attribute of graduates by all universities in Australia. In management practice, university policy makers have taken up ‘critical thinking’ to benchmark against the deficiency scenario often associated with international students, a large cohort of which come from Asia. This paper engages with the current critical debates and examines three aspects of ‘critical thinking’, the practices of teaching, doing and defending ‘critical thinking’ in university classrooms. In contesting ‘critical thinking’ as the essential attribute of graduates in the Western educational paradigm, this paper argues for an urgent need for a transcultural approach to think critically about the practice of ‘critical thinking’ and for an alternative pedagogical approach to global knowledge domains and knowledge production.     

“Who Was Park Chung-hee?” The Memorial Landscape and National Identity Politics in South Korea

President Park Chung-hee played a predominant role in shaping South Korean history, yet he remains a controversial figure. This paper explores the way this controversy has manifested itself in the memorial landscape and its significance within the context of national identity politics. It is argued that the debate between conservatives and progressives over the memory of Park has complicated the discourse beyond the prevalent focus on ethnic nationalism. The increasing place allocated for Park in the memorial landscape since 2008 is a tangible manifestation of a memory boom that appeared a decade earlier. Thus, the creation of an encouraging atmosphere in this regard can explain the correlation between the establishment of consecutive conservative governments and said trend. The way the memorial landscape has changed has offered an opportunity to think about a form of national identity which is more intricate. However, with the socio-political camps entrenched in their respective positions, the high-profile controversy has reflected the competing agendas and the degree to which the two sides differ on the fundamental components of national identity. The controversy over the memory of Park has thus both reinforced the divide between the political camps and demonstrated the extent to which it is deep.     

Moving from nos/otros to nosotros: a transcendent approach to sustainable development

Traditional top-down approaches to community development reinforce nos/otros binaries within provider/recipient relationships; transcendent approaches, on the other hand, create space for nosotros collaborative development. This article describes an instance of the nos/otros binary, in which a foreign volunteer in a rural community in Ecuador assumed the role of practitioner and limited community members’ roles to recipients or beneficiaries of her development projects. Inspired by findings from this experience, the article presents a case study highlighting an alternative, transcendent, nosotros approach in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where community members work together to imagine, implement, and sustain projects.