Тhe Spectacles of the Crisis: Local Perception of Economic and Social Change in Valenza

Authors

  • Michele F. Fontefrancesco Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Great Britain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v7i1.3

Keywords:

crisis, jewellery, artisan, Italy, Kant

Abstract

In this article, the case of the economic crisis of Valenza (Italy) and its jewellery industry is presented. The crisis has occurred since 2008 as an effect of the plunge of international jewellery market. Drawing from ethnographic materials collected during my fieldwork in the city (2008-2010), I intend to point out that an the most recent economic downturn had strong cultural effects on local population (goldsmiths and others). Following Kant’s concept of category of reason, I will show that the crisis itself had become a category of reason for local population that uses it to make decisions and plan their future.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adorno, Theodor W., and Max Horkheimer. 1979 (1944). "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." In Dialectic of Enlightenment, edited by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. London: Verso.

Allen, Franklin, Ana Babus, and Elena Carletti. 2009. "Financial Crises: Theory and Evidence." Annual Review of Financial Economics 1: 97-116.

Braudel, Fernand. 1972. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip Ii. London: Collins.

Carrithers, Michael. 2005. "Why Antrhropologist Should Study Rhetoric." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11 (3).

———. 2009. Culture, Rhetoric, and the Vicissitudes of Life. New York - Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Comune di Valenza. 2010. "Crisi Economica: È Urgente Per Valenza Il Sostegno Al Sistema Economico Locale." edited by Comune di Valenza. Valenza: Comune di Valenza.

Ferguson, James. 1999. Expectations of Modernity : Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.

Fontefrancesco, Michele Filippo. 2009a. "Cambiamenti Di Una Città in Crisi," Radiogold. Accessed March 1, 2011. www.Radiogold.it.

———. 2009b. "E Le Nuove Speranze?" Radiogold. Accessed March 1, 2011. www.Radiogold.it.

———. 2011. "The City of Goldsmiths." Anthropological Notebooks 17 (1): 21-59.

Fontefrancesco, Michele Filippo, Fabrizio Laddago, and Elena Rossi. 2009. "Valenza: Le Persone, L'oro E La Crisi." Italy.

Foucault, Michel. 1971. L'ordre du Discours. Paris: Gallimard.

———. 1984. "What Is Enlightenment ?" ("Qu'est-Ce Que Les Lumières ?"). In The Foucault Reader, edited by Paul Rabinow. New York: Pantheon Books.

———. 2002 [1969]. The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge.

Gaggio, Dario. 2007. In Gold We Trust: Social Capital and Economic Change in the Italian Jewelry Towns. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Gereffi, Gary, and Valentina De Marchi. 2010. "Gli Effetti Della Recessione Economica Sulle Catene Del Valore Del Gioiello in Oro: Le Tendenze in Atto Nei Mercati Globali E Nei Distritti Orafi Italiani." Newsletter dell’Osservatorio di Distretto di Valenza 3: 2-9.

Gombrowicz, Witold. 1995. Przewodnik Po Filozofii W Szes Godzin I Kwadrans. Krako301w: Wydawn. Znak.

Gudeman, Stephen. 2005. "Community and Economy: Economy's Base." In A Handbook of Economic Anthropology, edited by James Carrier. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Eldar.

———, ed. 2009. Economic Persuasions. New York: Berghahn Books.

———. 2010. "Creative Destruction. Efficiency, Equity or Collapse." Anthropology Today 26 (1): 3-7.

Hart, Keith. 2001. Money in an Unequal World : Keith Hart and His Memory Bank. New York ; London: Texere.

———. 2010. "Kant, 'Anthropology' and the New Humanism." Social Anthropology 18, no. 4.

Hart, Keith, and Horacio Ortiz. 2008. "Anthropology in the Finantial Crisis." Anthropology Today 26 (6): 1-3.

Hartshorne, Charles, and Paul Wiess, eds. 1933. Collected Papers of Charle Sander Charles. Cambridge MA, USA: Harvard University Press.

Kant, Immanuel. 2003 [1795]. To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.

———. 2006 [1798]. Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

———. 2007 [1781]. Critique of Pure Reason. London: Penguin.

———. 2009 [1784]. An Answer to the Question, What Is Enlightenment? London: Penguin.

Lynch, Owen M. 1994. "Urban Anthropology, Postmodernist Cities, and Perspectives." City & Society 7 (1): 35-52.

Maggiora, Pier Giorgio. 2010. Il Novecento a Valenza. Valenza: Giordano.

Marx, Karl. 2010 [1867]. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Vol. I: Marxist Internet Archives.

———. 2010 [1885]. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Vol. Ii: Marxist Internet Archives.

Maurer, Bill. 2006. The Anthropology of Money. Annual Review Anthropology 35: 15-36.

Mollona, Massimiliano. 2009. Made in Sheffield: An Ethnography of Industrial Work and Politics: Berghahn Books.

Muir, Sarha. 2008. "Narrative, Discourse, and Rhetoric." Accessed October 16, 2011. www.culanth.org.

Munn, N. D. 1992. The Cultural-Anthropology of Time - a Critical-Essay. Annual Review of Anthropology 21: 93-123.

Oliven, Ruben George. 2009. "The Money Rhetoric in the United States." In Economic Persuasions, edited by Stephen Gudeman. New York: Berghahn Books.

Raselli, Gianni, and Massimo Mensi. 2007. La Newsletter Come Collegamento Da E Per Il Territorio. Osservatorio Iternazionale del Distretto di Valenza 1: 3.

Redazione, Radiogold. 2009. "Senza Stipendio Per Un Anno. Accade a Valenza," Radio Gold. Accessed March 1, 2010. www.radiogold.it.

Robbins, Richard. 2009. "Anthropologizing Economics: Lessons from the Latest Crisis." Anthropology News 50 (7): 11-12.

Rossi, Elena. 2009a. "Crisi." Italy: Radiogold. March 29, 2009.

———. 2009b. "Il Commercio a Valenza." Italy: Radiogold. April 23, 2009.

———. 2009c. "Vita E Lavoro Nella Valenza Che (Non) Cambia." Italy: Radiogold. April 30, 2009.

Russell, Bertrand. 1992 [1911]. "The Philosophical Importance of Mathematical Logic." In Collected Paper of Bertrand Russell, edited by John G. Slater. London - New York: Routledge.

Schwegler, Tara A. 2009. The Global Crisis of Economic Meaning. Anthropology News 50 (7): 9, 12.

Schwittay, Anke. 2009. "Anthropologists Take on the Financial Crisis: Interviews on Money and Finance." Anthropology News 50 (7): 26.

Servizio Studi e Ricerche. 2010. Economia E Finanza Dei Distretti Industriali N.3. Milano: Intesa Sanpaolo, Serivizio Studi e Ricerche.

Stewart, Kathleen. 1996. A Space on the Side of the Road: Cultural Poetics in an "Other" America. Princeton, N.J.; Chichester: Princeton University Press.

Zeman, Jay. 1977. "Peirce’s Theory of Signs." In A Perfusion of Signs, edited by Thomas A. Sebeok. Bloomington; London: Indiana University Press.

Zemide, Roberta. 2008. "Sacrifici Contro La Crsisi." Il Piccolo, 19/12/2008.

———. 2009. "Crisi Del Distretto: Dati Allarmanti." Il Piccolo, 27/02/2009, 32.

Downloads

Published

2012-02-23

How to Cite

Fontefrancesco, Michele F. 2012. “Тhe Spectacles of the Crisis: Local Perception of Economic and Social Change in Valenza”. Etnoantropološki Problemi Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology 7 (1):65-83. https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v7i1.3.