Ecological Gentrification in Response to Apocalyptic Narratives of Climate Change: The Production of an Immuno-political Fantasy

Anxieties over the potential impacts of climate change, often framed in apocalyptic language, are having a profound, but little studied effect on the contemporary Western urbanscape. This article examines the ways in which current theorizations of ‘ecological gentrification’ express only half the process, describing how green space is used for social control, but not how ecology is used as a justification regime for such projects. As urbanites seek out housing and living practices that have a lower environmental impact, urban planners have responded by providing large-scale regeneration of the urbanscape. With the demand for this housing increasing, questions of inequality, displacement and dispossession arise. I ask whether apocalyptic anxiety is being enrolled in the justification regimes of these projects to make them hard to resist at the planning and implementation stages. The article shows that, in capitalizing on collective anxiety surrounding an apocalyptic future, these projects depoliticize subjects by using the empty signifier, ‘Sustainability’, leading them into an immuno-political relationship to the urbanscape. This leaves subjects feeling protected from both responsibility for, and the impacts of, climate change. Ultimately, this has the consequence of gentrification coupled with potentially worsening consumptive practices, rebound effects and the depoliticization of the environmentally conscious urbanite.     

The rhetorical fantasy of energy transitions: implications for energy policy and analysis

This article explores the rhetoric of four energy transitions. It begins by summarising research on the intersection of fantasy, technology and the sociology of expectation. It then looks at how ideas of progress, modernity, cheapness, abundance and hope influence the way society perceives new energy technologies, causing them to overestimate benefits and underestimate challenges. Our rhetorical analysis finds in case studies of steam engines, gasoline automobiles, hydroelectric dams and nuclear reactors that newly ‘discovered’ sources of energy or newly invented technologies are always assumed to provide infinitely abundant energy and to have the potential to create positive utopian changes in society. We conclude by noting the salient implications of these rhetorical themes for energy planners, analysts and scholars.     

Concepts and practices of digital virtual consumption

Despite the popularity of online spaces that simulate aspects of consumption‐like experiences (online virtual worlds, video games and interactive functions on online retailers) conceptual tools that aim to comprehend such consumer practices are yet to emerge. In an effort to better understand them this paper puts forward a taxonomy that may help us capture emerging consumer behavior in the digital virtual terrain in relation to virtual and material consumption. This may be read as a fluid template that considers the movement between what resides in consumer imaginations as ideal or virtual, its actualization in material and now also digital virtual spaces. We then offer examples of the practices that are emerging, specifically the increase in imaginative resources that interactive media provide; practices that actualize probable, everyday commodities and experiences in the digital virtual and practices that actualize fantastic commodities and experiences in the digital virtual. Finally, we discuss the potential for these to produce new consumer subjectivities and new markets, and as a result we conclude with a discussion of the implications of such developments for consumer cultures, noting the potential for both liberatory/celebratory and critical discourse as well as avenues for future research.     

British contributions to American Seaside Resorts

The British contribution to the 19th century North American seaside resolt was substantial. Most of the activities, structures, and philosophies that attracted North Americans in great numbers to the seaside not only originated in Britain but prior to diffusion to North America had become traditional fixtures in British resort life. The importance of the British contributions can be demonstrated by examining salient characteristics of the resorts on both sides of the Atlantic. Health resorts origins, social characteristics, architectural and landscape designs, visitor activities and perceptions, mechanical innovations aand relationships to transportation phenomena characteristics of British seaside resorts were largely emulated by subsequent institutions in North America. To date it appears that America scholars have been slow to recognize the extent of this cultural debt.     

Dreaming of Flying When Grounded: Occupational Identity and Occupational Fantasies of Furloughed Airline Pilots

This article analyses the effects of job loss on the occupational identities of a group of United States pilots, laid off (or ‘furloughed’) twice by their employer in the decade following 9/11. Using a narrative methodology, the paper examines how the childhood dream of flying, referred to as the Phaëthon dream, serves as an identity anchor that sustained their occupational identities. When the circumstances of the aviation industry (restructuring, outsourcing, and downsizing) led to extensive lay‐offs, this identity anchor functioned in two contrasting ways. Some pilots moved on to retrain and start new careers, without abandoning their occupational identities or relinquishing the dream of flying. Another group of pilots, however, were stuck in occupational limbo waiting to be recalled by their employer, unwilling to forsake this dream and refusing to contemplate a move that would decisively take them out of their pilot seats. The paper's contribution lies in theorizing how a dream originating in childhood, linked to a long‐standing archetype of flying and subsequently hardened into a shared occupational fantasy, acts as an identity anchor and how this shapes responses to the trauma of job loss. The paper concludes by linking the Phaëthon dream to its mythological counterpart in order to highlight its enduring, shared, and unconscious character.     

The potential of anime for destination marketing: fantasies,otaku, and the kidult segment

While a substantial body of literature exists on film tourism, there is a lack of research attention bridging the potential of Japanese anime on real-world destination marketing. The implications of anime tourism can extend far beyond geographic boundary as the worldwide anime market is diversifying, providing novel opportunities for destination marketing organizations in other countries. To address this research gap, this paper first defines anime versus animated films to clarify the definition of anime for the tourism literature, and then draws out theoretical differences between the two types of entertainment within a cinematic perspective to highlight their conceptual boundaries across place, protagonist, and production. This paper suggests that the ways in which these three aspects are manifested in anime versus films are very different: anime settings are more fantasy-orientated than most films; viewers develop their self-identity (i.e. as an ‘otaku’) during childhood and adolescence; and anime productions can be extended with new series to create more enduring engagement to develop the kidult segment. This paper contributes to the literature by connecting the aforementioned cinematic aspects as a basis for elaboration of how differences among the three dimensions could be directly related to potential destination marketing activities.     

Strategy implementation as fantasising – becoming the leading bank

In this empirical case study we explore the fantasy nature of strategy work and propose fantasising as a framework contributing to the nascent literature dealing with the previously overlooked fantasy nature of strategy. More specifically, our interest is on examining how the meaning of official strategy gets constructed as it is being implemented, as well as and how and why the perceptions may evolve during implementation. Our data consists of official strategy documents and interviews from Finland's largest financial services group and its largest unit. The interviews cover all organisational levels, enabling us to reveal the variations of perceptions of strategy as it is being implemented. The data analysis is carried out by means of qualitative interpretation. According to our findings, the main goal of becoming the leading bank, as outlined in the official strategy, had been adopted throughout the organisation hierarchically. However, conceptions of what would constitute ‘a leading bank’ varied, especially horizontally. The plausibility of the official strategy is constructed through rational techniques (e.g. numerical ‘objective’ accounting information) intertwined with storytelling. As a result we propose that strategy implementation may best be understood as fantasising involving two forms: functional (explicit, short-term-oriented) and symbolic (metaphorical, long-term-oriented). We offer fantasising in these two forms as an addition to fantasy-oriented strategy literature for further exploration to better understand the nature of strategy work.     

The Symbolic Role of Postcards in Representing a Destination Image: The Case of Alanya,Turkey

The study adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the role of postcards in representing a destination image as evidence for their travel. A total of 15 postcard racks in Alanya, Turkey were sampled in a variety of sales outlets, using an observation and content photography techniques. The postcards were sorted into four groups according to their levels of authenticity and contextual representation of the tourist's experience at the destination. The analysis yielded a conceptual framework of four types of postcards: realistic, refurbished reality, misleading, and fantasy. The study concluded that only a small proportion of the postcards represented authentic and true images of Alanya, while the majority of the postcards provided ambiguous, unclear, and confusing images of the destination. Recommendations for developing more realistic images to be featured on postcards are discussed.     

中国网络玄幻小说的神话学探究

中国网络玄幻小说与中西神话有着千丝万缕的渊源关系,在原型、神话色彩、生命意识以及叙事模式上受到中西神话原型及原型背后的故事的影响。网络玄幻小说将其中可以利用的原型故事拿来为己所用,对其进行重述和演绎,使古老的神话在信息时代全面复活。这种现代化的复活,不仅展现着传统文化绵长悠久的生命力,而且体现着当代中国网络玄幻小说对传统文化的承继与传播。     

The mechanism of tourism slogans on travel intention based on Unique Selling Proposition (USP) theory

Tourism slogan is an important part of destination branding and marketing. This study uncovers the mechanism of tourism slogans on travel intention based on USP theory. Study 1 utilizes a content analysis to quantify China’s 5A-class tourist resorts’ slogans by applying USP (Unique Selling Proposition) criteria. Study 2 tests a moderated mediation model to explain the mechanism of tourism slogans’ effectiveness measured by these USP levels. Results show that slogans’ USP levels have a significant positive effect on travel intention through mental imagery, and this relation is moderated by fantasy proneness. Findings provide useful insights for practice and future research.