Culture in Commotion:

Probes and Provocations 2001

by Barry Duncan

Barry offers some observations on the current state of culture and the repercussions of its representation through the mass media.

• The forces of globalization have created a market driven, global economy, promoting privatization, downsizing and deregulation, e.g. the loosening of environmental laws. Conservative right wing governments prevail.
• The corporate take-over of public space embraces everything from shopping malls to the changing role of art galleries and museums. Sponsored culture is now common place e.g. The Santa Claus exhibit at the ROM; The Barnes Exhibit at AGO. Today we are addressed more as consumers than as citizens who will exercise our democratic rights.
• Increased commercialization of our schools e.g. YNN (The Youth News Network) "Zap Me" screen saver, the Cola wars, ads in textbooks, and environmental curriculum from Lever Brothers. University administrators now court corporations to fund programs such as research projects in engineering to the neglect of the arts. All of these examples serve to diminish our public space. (see the work of Canadian thinkers Maud Barlow (Council of Canadians) and Heather - Jane Robertson, CTF).

  "Free speech is meaningless if the commercial cacophany has risen to the point where no one can hear you." - Naomi Klein, NOLOGO

• The public relations industry has created the new spin doctors, the skilful lobbyists, image consultants and crisis managers for governments and corporations. The notion of 'manufacturing consent' is central to this endeavour (see work of Noam Chomsky) Today, business has shifted from selling products to creating a brand image/presence. See Naomi Klein's NOLOGO, which urges us to follow the logo to its origin, typically in Asian sweatshops. Examine the implications of Nike contracts for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods whose recent deal provides 100 million dollars.

  "Love thy label as thyself" - Marshall McLuhan

• Cool hunters find out what teens want or perceive what they want. According to Channel One's Teen Fact Book, "Teens consider the logo to be even more important than what's beneath."
• Merger mania and concentration of ownership and control profoundly influence our choices in entertainment and even our sources of news. AOL - TimeWarnerTurner and CanWest Global rule supreme.
• The challenge; of cybertechnologies - we need to give context to the texts,cracking the codes, and discovering the hidden media grammar. We should investigate identity formation in our use of the WEB, the Internet, e-mail and chat lines. (See work of Sherry Turkle) Learn how young people process new media. (See work of Douglas Rushkoff). Above all, we must assess the educational implications of the corporate domination of cyberspace. On a positive note, we need to see how new communication technologies such as digital cameras provide new outlets for creativity. Clearly teachers need to have multiple literacies.

Some Positive Notes and Tools of Resistance

• People are starting to talk back, giving resistant readings of the dominant culture and reclaiming the streets. Cultural, social and political groups have joined culture-jammers such as Adbusters to form effective alliances. The 'battle in Seattle' staged against the World Trade Organization demonstrated that thoughtful protests, public think tanks, town hall forums have made a difference to awaken democratic participation.
• Bringing the music of rock groups such as "Rage against the Machine" into the classroom encourages oppositional readings of the texts of contemporary culture. Students need to see that they can make a difference, a goal achievable through following an empowering learning sequence consisting of awareness, analysis, and reflection leading to action (Paulo Freire). The CBC claims one letter of protest equals the voices of 1000 citizens.
• Critical Pedagogy, while it is rather academic, posits teaching as socially and politically situated whereby teachers and students interrogate the dominant culture and share and problem-pose their lived experience.
• If teachers were to adopt a cultural studies paradigm they would learn how identities are created through gender, race, class, systems of belief, and communicative practices. In addition, if we engage in cross disciplinary studies and become effective 'border crossers (see work of Henry Giroux), we may be able to open up some rich territory for the study of literature and the arts as well as the social sciences. In these pursuits, we should still recognize the importance of narrative form and structure and the notion of the pleasures of the text.