[csaa-forum] RE: wanting to be effluent

[Jeannie Martin]

What is wrong with wanting a nice house and having a bit of a spend to get
it.?
I did all that

Dr. Jeannie Martin
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow,
Centre For Cultural Research
Parramatta Campus
University of Western Sydney,,
Locked Bag 1797,
Penrith South DC NSW 1797
Phone +61. 2. 96859600
Fax; +61.2. 96859610
e-mail <je.martin at uws.edu.au>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amanda Wise" <amanda.wise at scmp.mq.edu.au>
To: "'CSAA discussion list'" <csaa-forum at darlin.cdu.edu.au>
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 4:01 PM
Subject: RE: [csaa-forum] RE: wanting to be effluent


> As much as I'm appalled by the spread of Plasma TV mania and the
> consumer credit frenzy it represents, I think the point needs to be made
> about how we direct our angst. Why are we so worried for the former
> working classes who've 'sold out' to the Plasma/Project Home world of
> consumption yet not a word has been said about all those other consumer
> classes.... what about the Leichhardt/Annandale renovators (insert your
> capital city equivalents here), the Bondi million dollar semi-detached
> cottages? The $10,000 leather lounge in the million dollar warehouse
> apartment in Alexandria, overlooking the Redfern housing commission
> flats? Maybe these people voted Liberal too. Why are the Mc Mansion
> residents so much more guilty/responsible for the current state of
> affairs?
>
> Be aware of the power/class/cultural capital distinctions we're drawing
> on.
>
> All that aside - I suppose one important challenge is indeed, (as some
> have said on this list) to forge a new politics of affect/empathy among
> these groups. Ie: What sorts of popular discourses might we generate
> amongst the newly (and old) affluent groups that would produce an
> empathetic, rather than antagonistic view of the genuinely struggling
> workers out there, refugees, and so on...
>
> When I was researching/working with East Timorese refugees in western
> sydney on the independence struggle I was continually amazed at the
> level of participation among working and middle class anglo senior
> citizens. There were compelled to action through the very active work of
> a group of Catholic nuns who basically travelled the length and breadth
> of Australia telling the East Timor story and bringing Timorese refugees
> out to visit small Catholic parishes. Not many people know that a large
> chunk of the funds for East Timor's independence struggle was raised by
> white nannas in suburban and country Australia. The nuns understood the
> power of 'empathy building' ...
>
> That's our challenge - finding the right empathy building messages, the
> kind that don't patronise, and finding the right means to get them out
> there.
>
> Amanda
>
> (and yes - I did say Chinese in Sylvania Waters. Indeed - there are
> whole new classes of liberal voting migrants who even own Plasma TVs. I
> remember my interviews with East Timorese in Western Sydney ... many of
> whom had a key goal -to get out of Cabramatta and move to the new
> housing estates around Liverpool. And most East Timorese would never
> vote Labor - Whitlam is a dirty word to them - not suprisingly given his
> cosy relationship with Suharto in '75)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: csaa-forum-bounces at darlin.cdu.edu.au
> [mailto:csaa-forum-bounces at darlin.cdu.edu.au] On Behalf Of John Scannell
> Sent: Tuesday, 12 October 2004 3:39 PM
> To: CSAA discussion list
> Subject: Re: [csaa-forum] RE: wanting to be effluent
>
> Sally
>
> I am gonna let you take the heat for the Freedom Furniture stuff now...
> But I agree with you on consumerism and the whole mania of conspicuous
> consumption which has swept the country and is driving me insane...
> John
>
> Sally Scott wrote:
>
> >What a defensive barrage has been creative by allusions to Freedom
> Furniture
> >and fondue. Interestingly, for what it says about the discources of
> cultural
> >studies, I was using the list of aspirational accoutrements as symbols
> of
> >consumerism rather than class. That is, Australians, irrespective of
> >suburbs, are more interested in what they can buy and when, rather than
> >issues like education and health reform, refugees or workplace equity.
> Are
> >we consuming ourselves into an apathetic torpor? What significance does
> this
> >have for both the political process and the future of the Left (as
> distinct
> >from the Labor party)? (I understand my assumption here is that the
> Left are
> >less concerned with a consumer economy)
> >
> >There is a wonderful doco doing the rounds about the big corporates and
> the
> >many ways in which they are driving consumption - out of this all power
> >leads to them. Where is our Left in this packet of Crispies?
> >
> >Sally
> >
> >
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> >
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