Global Integrative Studies, School of
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
5-2019
Citation
Translocal: Culturas Contemporâneas Locais e Urbanas (2019) 5(2): 1-15.
Also available at: https://translocal.cm-funchal.pt/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/TRL5_Seduction-Promises-and-the-Disneyfication-of-Barbuda-post-Irma-SP_RB_EI.pdf
Abstract
Under the guise of post-hurricane development, the national government of Antigua and Barbuda exploited the disasterscape of post Hurricane Irma Barbuda to usher in a new wave of economic development that has left Barbudans separated from their unique culture and identity. In this article we explore what are inhabited vs. uninhabited spaces, the effects of Colonial Christian ideas on cultivated vs. uncultivated lands and the effects of capitalist seduction to traditional landscapes and seascapes. We argue that this neocolonial approach to traditional lifeways increases vulnerability of both people and environment. By wiping out diversity and culture in order to replace it with acultural, Disneyfied landscapes serving outside interests and furthering the divide between rich and poor through the singular economy of tourism, it pushes local people into a new slavery through dependence and servitude.
Included in
Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Geography Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
Comments
Copyright 2019, the authors. Used by permission.
Published by el Centro de Investigação em Estudos Regionais e Locais, Universidade da Madeira.