Culture and Economy

Abstract:
This paper situates ‘bazaar’ as a site of multifaceted exploration. It is as much an inquiry into a bazaar (‘Janpath’ in New Delhi) as it is into the modes of knowledge about the bazaar. Challenging the representation of the postcolonial bazaar as a bizarre relic of the past or the pure theoretical market, I make the case for viewing it as a socioeconomic site of modernity. The symbolic geography of this site is contested, populated as it is, with the evocations, expectations, and histories of the various implicated human constituencies.
Bazaars are integral to cultural imaginaries, and I start by presenting some of the ways in which they have functioned to excite fantasy and fear. In spite of this, bazaars are often conceptualised primarily as an economic space to ‘truck, barter and exchange’. I suggest that in this characterisation there is a problematic slippage between the market and the bazaar. The bazaar is not simply another market. Neither is the market itself any much more than a convenient fiction for the purposes of an abstract deductive political economy which obtains its purchase on the ‘economic’ realm by a perpetual erasure of subjectivity and particularity under the signs of objectivity, generality and science. While, even to many anthropologists, the appeal of judging the bazaar against a pervasive ideal of the market continues to be irresistible, I argue that the bazaar offers a valuable site to challenge the culture/economy separation that characterises much thinking about the economic realm. It is to this effect that the paper travels to re-member the coming into being of a specific bazaar – the Janpath. What makes this travel interesting is the forays it makes into issues of governmentality, patriarchy, livelihoods under capitalist globalisation, nationstatism, in other words, the spatial and symbolic contexts of postcolonial modernity in India.
...

Overview:
The bazaar has been an exotic site and its rationality has been the subject of rescue endeavours in much research. In contrast, I have argued that we need to see the bazaar as a fertile ground – a hybrid space for stories, for theories, and for explorations of the nation-state, of capitalism, colonialism, globalisation, and governmentality. In particular, the Janpath Bazaar provides us with a site for exploring diverse postcolonial subjectivities under the influence of a weighty history and the diffuse operation of coercive power. If we see it as a space unrarefied by the disciplinary boundaries of culture, economy, history, theory, literature, activism – it can be the site for exploring several interconnected issues as they are lived, experienced, and observed. This paper has travelled to transgress the story/theory modes of enquiry in the hope of presenting the poetics and politics of bazaars in general and the Janpath bazaar in particular as contested spaces with many layers of meaning that undo the pervasive and problematic separations of culture and economy in modernity.

The starting point of this article is the recognition of globally proliferating right-wing electoral successes of a specific kind that rely upon a weaving together of seemingly contradictory aspects of neoliberalism and nationalism. An important dimension of these globally occurring changes is that they reflect something more than simply the empirical instantiation of a right-wing success in any one specific context. They require us to unravel and understand the transmutations in the nature of the political and the economic in the contemporary postcolonial world. Here, I focus on the relevance of uncovering the powerful weave of nationalism, neoliberalism, and postcolonialism that lies behind such configurations of power; a governmentality I refer to as PNN (postcolonial neoliberal nationalism). An understanding of PNN requires us to challenge the a priori availability of analysis of either neoliberalism or nationalism in isolation; neoliberalism and nationalism are not only not contradictory to each other, but as projects of re-forming imaginaries, they co-constitute the ideas of “market/economy” and “nation/culture.” Furthermore, PNN makes visible the ambivalent status of “the West,” since it is imbued with the historical legacy of colonial memory re-called into the present as a revanchist pride, and combined with the conflicting aspirational/actual consumption desires to emulate the capitalist imperial metropolitan fantasies. I use the example of India to illustrate how PNN has been enacted as a technique of governmentality by the Modi-led BJP government through the reformulation of Swadeshi and the Make in India project.

Keywords: Nationalism, Neoliberalism, India, Postcolonial, Modi, Swadeshi, Governmentality, Hindutva, Economy, Culture

INTRODUÇÃO Este artigo investiga o processo de formação de um bem cultural resultado do imbricamento de processos sociais amplos. O mito da baianidade e a construção de um ideal da comida baiana é produto da ação de intelectuais, do setor comercial privado e de instituições governamentais, alinhados com a definição de um mercado de bens culturais no Brasil, de influências políti-cas e econômicas variadas, elegendo determinados repertórios como mais destacados para compor uma imagem ampla de Bra-sil, incluindo o regional-baiano. Por tratar-se da análise de uma mercadoria com apelo à identi-ficação, vale pensar sobre os impactos da construção moderna de identidades nacionais que se empenham em criar um ideário unificante para compreender o processo mais local que culmi-na na definição de identidades regionais. Como observado por Stuart Hall, a narrativa nacional fornece " uma série de estórias, imagens, panoramas, cenários, eventos históricos, símbolos e ri-tuais nacionais que simbolizam ou representam as experiências partilhadas " (2003, p. 52). O discurso da nacionalidade cria signos do que representa ter nascido em determinado território, e é

The culture - economy dialectic (CED) -- the opposition of the concepts and phenomena of culture and economy -- is one of the most important ideas in the modern history of ideas. Both disciplinary boundaries and much theoretical thought in social science are strongly influenced or even determined by the CED. For that reason, a thorough analysis and evaluation of the CED is needed to improve understanding of the history of ideas in social science and the currently fashionable research on the cultural influences on economic differences between countries and regions. This thesis is an attempts to do just that. The concepts of "culture" and "economy" (and related concepts) and the (assumed) relations therebetween are compared and analyzed. Empirical results from earlier studies are summarized and some new test are presented. These new tests are partly based on a measurement of Dutch regional culture. However, most theories of the CED are (nearly) impossible to verify (empirically). There appears to be some influence of wealth on specific cultural phenomena (such as individualism and post-materialism), but the often assumed influence of culture on entrepreneurship and economic growth remains unconfirmed. Moreover, from an analysis of the theories themselves, it appears that most of these cannot be falsified and are, therefore, hardly 'scientific'. Many of the theories of the CED and, in fact, many theories of social science in general are of a conceptual rather than a causal nature. These theories cannot be falsified (or verified) by empirical means alone, but must be studied by means of conceptual analysis. In the final conclusions, this thesis, therefore, argues for conceptual analysis in -- and a more anarchist approach to -- social science.

Con 'Nuevas economías de la cultura' YProductions queremos seguir indagando sobre las relaciones que se traman entre la esfera de la cultura y la economía, pero en esta ocasión analizando el papel y las posibilidades que ofrece la industria creativa como motor de desarrollo. Este nuevo paradigma industrial entusiasmó a políticos y responsables culturales por igual durante la década de los noventa debido a los magníficos resultados económicos que prometía. Esta es una de las razones que ha llevado a que muchos países en vías de desarrollo se interesen por implementar planes de promoción de la industria creativa con el objetivo de no tan sólo generar crecimiento económico sino también propiciar el desarrollo. En la investigación analizamos algunos de los problemas inherentes a este modelo productivo y cuestionamos la noción de desarrollo que conlleva, introduciendo nuevas formas de entender las industrias creativas y otros modelos de economización de la cultura. Analizando algunas instituciones y proyectos de dinamización cultural intentamos comprender cómo las diferentes políticas culturales concilian los objetivos socio-culturales con los económicos.

Apstrakt: U proleće 2008. godine, nakon što je Hajneken od Efesa kupio većinski udeo u "Pančevačkoj pivari" i postao njen vlasnik, ova korporacija je ugasila proizvodnju u pančevačkoj fabrici, otpustila sve preostale radnike sem nekoliko menadžera i, ubrzo zatim, obustavila proizvodnju jedinog preostalog brenda "Pančevačke pivare", koji je nosio ime osnivača pivare iz sredine 19. veka - Vajfert. Tako je nakon više od 150 godina proizvodnje piva u Vajfertovoj pivari, i više od 280 godina od kako je pivo počelo da se pravi i toči u Pančevu, ovaj grad ostao bez značajnog industrijskog kapaciteta i bez jednog od ključnih kulturnih i identitetskih simbola. Ono što izaziva pozornost istraživača je ogroman jaz koji se uoþava izmeÿu decenijskih nastojanja da se pivara i kultura konzumiranja piva tradicionalizuju i iskoriste u reprezentaciji grada kao industrijskog središta, kao multikulturalne sredine s urbanim senzibilitetom i značajnim habsburškim nasleđem, i potpunog muka koji je pratio zatvaranje pivare i koji još uvek, četiri godine nakon zatvaranja fabrike, vlada. U radu istražujem kako se mo-gu protumačiti duboko, neugodno ćutanje i tišina koji obavijaju ovaj događaj, odsustvo ma kakve javne rasprave, ali i nepostojanje bilo kakvog artikulisanog neoficijelnog diskursa o ovom gubitku. Polazeći od pretpostavke da je svaki način govorenja istovremeno i način negovorenja, ispitujem kakva je socijalna dinamika suprotnog procesa u konkretnom društveno-ekonomsko-političko-kulturnom kontekstu. Drugim rečima, koja je uloga društvenog ne-sećanja i šta možemo pročitati iz ovog negovorenja, potiskivanja, namernog zaborava? Kljuþne reþi: ekonomska devastacija, društveni zaborav, panþevaþka pivara Oþajniþki potez þoveka koji je, pošto ga nisu primili na razgovor u opšti-nu, iz torbe izvadio pušku, nervozno se kretao po platou ispred zgrade opštine * Rad je saopšten na meÿunarodnoj konferenciji "Kultura, identitet, politika-znanstveni skup u þast Dunji Rihtman-Auguštin", Zagreb, 25-27.10.2012; objavljen je apstrakt u knjizi apstrakata (dvojeziþno, srpski i engleski); Izdavaþ: Institut za etnolo-giju i folkloristiku, glavni urednik: Tvrtko Zebec; ISBN: 987-953-6020-81-2; str. 30-31. Tekst je rezultat rada na projektu "Transformacija kulturnih identiteta u savreme-noj Srbiji i Evropska unija" (MNTR 177018), koji u celosti finansira Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja Republike Srbije.

In the following paper I describe how first-time buyers attach themselves to various kind of debt and obligation (mortgages and family loans and gifts). I depict the results of qualitative content and narrative analysis of 40 interviews with first-time buyers and of 10 interviews of their parents from the Czech Republic in order to classify the arguments used to justify their actions. I argue that certain culturally shared perception and evaluation of mortgages and family transfers contributes to reproduction of socioeconomic inequalities. The relevance of intergenerational financial transfers for attachment to formal debt has been proved by survey data and regression modeling, however the cultural and moral legitimation of practice has been under-researched. Adding the perspective of both generations I enrich the perspective on debts and gifts in the housing context and broader our understanding of various kind of inequalities generated on housing market.

This article as an attempt to introduce the work of the French economist André Orléan to the new research paradigm of the cultural studies of the economy and the economy of literature. The text focuses not so much on the role economy plays in literary texts, but on the analysis of the cultural determination of economy, especially on the role of fiction in economy and economics. After the reconstruction of the research done so far in this field, the article moves toward the introduction of Orléan’s work on the autoreferential nature of value on the financial markets as a key aspect of the analysis of the fictitious character of contemporary economy. Reconstructing the basic aspect of Orléan’s theory – the cognitive turn in finance theory – the text finishes with the suggestion to include Orléan’s analysis of contemporary financial capitalism in the research on the cultural determination of finance.

The aim of the paper is to compare case studies of Dioscuri research project which deal with privatization processes in food and beverages industry.  Enterprises concerned were different by scope, type of industry, economic activities. Still, what is common to all of them is that all went through privatization and reckon their privatization as successful.  According to preliminary comparisons between the cases of brewery privatizations, and informed by a recent empirical research and theory on transition in Eastern and Central Europe which argue against simple transfer or import of foreign [western, international] values, institutions and procedures, we started with assumption that the success of the privatizations had to be related to the interrelation of global and local aspects of organizational change. After introducing the ideal type historical sequence of a beer producing company, based on five case studies, we will present the notions of “embedded” and “disembedded” locality/internationality that we will use as a main analytical tools in revealing the complex interrelation of the global and local aspects of various stages, features and practices of an organizational change.

Il 2017 resterà negli annali, per lo spettacolo dal vivo italiano del nostro Paese, come l’anno della “nuova legge”, comunemente identificata come “Codice dello spettacolo”: una legge attesa da molto tempo,
preceduta da decreti ministeriali che avevano in parte già ridefinito la geografia del settore.Tra i principi indicati dalla legge vi sono la razionalizzazione degli interventi di sostegno dello Stato,
l'armonizzazione degli interventi statali con quelli degli enti pubblici territoriali, la promozione dell'integrazione e dell'inclusione. Tra le innovazioni, l’estensione dell’Art Bonus (la possibilità di usufruire
di agevolazioni fiscali nelle erogazioni liberali), finora riservato ad alcune categorie, a tutto lo spettacolo dal vivo e il consolidamento del tax credit per il settore della musica.
Nel 2017 sono stati affrontati in più occasioni i temi legati al lavoro e all’occupazione. Cresce del 14,2% il numero delle figure artistiche che nel 2015 hanno lavorato versando almeno un contributo all’INPS (sono in
tutto circa 135.000), ma i compensi medi annuali risultano molto bassi e quasi la metà di loro svolge anche altre attività.
Gli spettacoli hanno comunque registrato complessivamente un aumento del pubblico e degli incassi; i blockbuster sono rappresentati, per la lirica, dai titoli del grande repertorio proposti dalle principali
Fondazioni lirico sinfoniche; per il resto, da musical di repertorio e da spettacoli/recital, incentrati in buona parte su personaggi di emanazione televisiva.
Tra gli spettacoli dell’anno ricordiamo Macbettu, per la regia di Alessandro Serra, prodotto da Sardegna
Teatro e Ragazzi di Vita di Pier Paolo Pasolini, diretto a Massimo Popolizio, prodotto dal Teatro di Roma.
Uno spazio a parte merita il progetto Futuri Maestri del Teatro dell’Argine di Bologna, realizzato con allievi e allieve di istituzioni scolastiche di diverso ordine e grado, che ha portato a nove serate di spettacolo con mille protagonisti (gli stessi studenti) e nove “maestri”, per citarne alcuni, Daniel Pennac e Roberto Saviano.

The culture - economy dialectic (CED) -- the opposition of the concepts and phenomena of culture and economy -- is one of the most important ideas in the modern history of ideas. Both disciplinary boundaries and much theoretical thought in social science are strongly influenced or even determined by the CED. For that reason, a thorough analysis and evaluation of the CED is needed to improve understanding of the history of ideas in social science and the currently fashionable research on the cultural influences on economic differences between countries and regions. This thesis is an attempts to do just that. The concepts of "culture" and "economy" (and related concepts) and the (assumed) relations therebetween are compared and analyzed. Empirical results from earlier studies are summarized and some new test are presented. These new tests are partly based on a measurement of Dutch regional culture. However, most theories of the CED are (nearly) impossible to verify (empirically). There appears to be some influence of wealth on specific cultural phenomena (such as individualism and post-materialism), but the often assumed influence of culture on entrepreneurship and economic growth remains unconfirmed. Moreover, from an analysis of the theories themselves, it appears that most of these cannot be falsified and are, therefore, hardly 'scientific'. Many of the theories of the CED and, in fact, many theories of social science in general are of a conceptual rather than a causal nature. These theories cannot be falsified (or verified) by empirical means alone, but must be studied by means of conceptual analysis. In the final conclusions, this thesis, therefore, argues for conceptual analysis in -- and a more anarchist approach to -- social science.

This paper is based on a study of a local beer factory, located in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, which recently went through the privatization process. At the end of 2003, the Panþevo Brewery was taken over by Efes Group, thus becoming the most western operation in the process of Efes spreading across the European market. Although it is customary to conceptualize privatization as a purely economic issue, research of the privatization of such a local company by a large international producer provided us with an opportunity to observe, analyze and interpret various ways in which economy and culture inter-reacted, and became mutually dependent. The field of economic change was observed as a space of cultural transformation, where business, organizational and working cultures of "socialism" and "capitalism" met and influenced each other, both on institutional and personal levels. Different notions of "culture" that illustrate the increasing "culturalization" of economy at the turn of the century were singled out. Particular attention was paid to socialism as a legacy, operating through narrative and residual practices. At the same time, this legacy was an obstacle for desired change as well as a source for sustaining a sense of personal worth among employees faced with the approaching hegemonic narrative of "capitalism triumphant".