Community or discontinuity? Values or visual? And the one and only Hilary Clinton. This week's digest provides a scope into these themes highlighting pop culture, politics and the personified.
Capitalism, consumerism or community? Chris Arnades Guardian article investigates this in relation to McDonalds, advocating that this restaurant chain goes beyond the corporate giant imagery and provides a space of togetherness which acts as a subculture within the culture of consumption.
Takeesha and Steve, Bronx, New York. Photograph: Chris Arnade for the Guardian
Christina Duffy Ponsas' New York Times article shows the reader a physical manifestation of structural violence. Ponsas details this in relation to the dispute over American Samoa and American citizenship. “To be subjected to uncertainty with respect to something as fundamental as one’s citizenship is in and of itself a severe harm” (Ponsas 2016). This is something both law makers and society need to understand to support, not hinder, humankind.
In the wake of Muhammed Ali’s death, Hamid Dadashi's Al Jazeera article details why we mourn pop culture icons at the magnitude ‘we’ do. Dadashi argues that as with the case of Ali, it is about mourning both the death of an icon and the values they personify. In the instance of Ali what it ‘means’ to be American both body and soul.
Jacoba Urist’s article in The Atlantic considers what can be 'seen' when one cannot see. Urist explores this in relation to sensory experiences of art, specifically that of touch. Highlighting that more can be learnt when one can interpret on another level then sight despite the irony of museums being filled with“do not touch” signs. What this article also shows us is that there should be a shift in interpretation to a ‘slower’ approach rather than the quick fire responses that persist in academic and social circles. “Anyone who wants to get the work has to slow down and try to connect with the canvas—or they’ll see nothing at all” (Urist 2016).
Finally I turn to the looming US election and the one and only Hilary Clinton. Love her or hate her Molly Robert’s Washington Post, article details why ‘we’ should care about her. Specifically the millennials whose concerns sway more anti-authouritarian then feminist. Clinton however affirms what the millennial generation was taught - “women can do anything”. Therefore young(er) society does not necessarily need to see it even though she “could’ be the change ‘society’ needs.
