Tzanelli, R orcid.org/0000-0002-5765-9856 and Yar, M (2020) Atmospheres of the inhospitable in staged kidnappings. Consumption Markets & Culture, 24 (5). pp. 439-455. ISSN 1025-3866
Abstract
This article explores the paradoxical staging of experiences of “inhospitality,” taking shape as commercialised opportunities for individuals, willing to be voluntarily subjected to kidnapping. Such “extreme” leisure is facilitated by companies specialising in simulated captivities of clients. These simulations, which blend forms of performance with practices of violence, are situated theoretically within a revised iteration of Benjamin Barber’s thesis about “Jihad vs McWorld.” Barber’s original thesis would locate such stagings within a broader tendency of contemporary capitalism to co-opt and commoditise experiences associated with “terror” and suffering. Unlike Barber, we focus on the aesthetics and atmospheres of such experiences. We aim to comprehend the ways artistic “violence experts” articulate the meaning of such leisure for subjects striving to confront and manage the risks and uncertainties of a conflict-ridden lifeworld. Resembling the schadenfreude of dark tourism and the art of performance, kidnapping packages promote a form of aesthetic education into uncertainty.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of an article published in Consumption Markets & Culture. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Atmosphere; consumption; edgework; grobalisation; hospitality; simulation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Sociology and Social Policy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Aug 2020 13:14 |
Last Modified: | 13 Jul 2022 10:27 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/10253866.2020.1803068 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:163984 |