Elliptic Blog

Last Day in Paris

Well,

I thought I'd post some photos, but I forgot to bring the camera's battery with me. No big loss since I was not in the mood for photography after all.

I will return to Philadelphia tomorrow and the last day here has the same emotional tones as the hours after the last Morrissey concert I saw in Chicago last month.

Here is a list of a few spots / moments that linger in the mind from the last two weeks:

• The Pause Café on the corner of Rue de Charonne and Rue Keller. A great spot to linger over coffee for hours and then slipping into dinner time as the crowd begins to fill in. It also had a role in the film When The Cat's Away - which I recommend highly. To make matters more interesting, I bumped into the actor who played Djamel in that film: Zinedine Soualem.
• An interesting choice of films shown on French television stations before and after the U.S. elections (such as Johnny Got His Gun and Wag The Dog) and the disbelief over the results of the elections. The general mood over here is that the U.S. population seems to be more religious and moralistic than initially thought and that the European Union now has the clear duty to become a "counterweight" to the U.S. for years to come.
• Paris-St. Germain's miraculous (and undeserved) comeback to win 3-2 over Olympique de Marseilles after being down 0-2.
• The discovery that Café Orbital no longer exists. The discovery of Café du Commerce in the Butte aux Cailles neighborhood offering free WiFi.
• Finished three books during my stay: Saint Morrissey, Wittgenstein's Poker and The Philosopher's Dog.

This trip was dominated, unlike previous ones, by staying put and letting the hours slide by slowly rather than walking all over the place.

Chomsky on Suburbanization

Chomsky usually is careful not to appeal to conspiracies since his detractors tend to describe many of his views as conspiracy theories and, thus, try to discredit the views. He usually replies that what he is describing is the cultural and institutional inertia of capitalist and governmental institutions. It is the ingrained culture and framework of presuppositions that lead to problematic behavior and not necessarily an agreed conspiracy among the powerful.

That said, it was with a bit of a disappointment that I read his views on suburbanization. He appeals to a conspiracy explicitly.

...take the fact that so many people live in the suburbs and everybody has to drive their own car everywhere. Was that the result of a "free market"? No, it was because the U.S. government carried out a massive social-engineering project in the 1950s to destroy the public transportation system in favor of expanding a highly inefficient system based on cars and airplanes -- because that's what benefits big industry. It started with corporate conspiracies to buy up and eliminate streetcar systems, and then continued with huge public subsidies to build the highway systems and encourage an extremely inefficient and environmentally destructive alternative. That's what led to the suburbanization of the country -- so you get huge shopping malls in the suburbs, and devastation in the inner cities.

Noam Chomsky; Understanding Power; p.256

Keep in mind that this is a transcript of an off-the-cuff talk he gave in the early 1990's and, as such, his simplification could, perhaps, be excused. The passage does have a footnote dedicated to justifying the accusation of "conspiracy".

I'm close to finishing the book, so I'll post a critical analysis sometime in the near future.

Political Marketing

Reading Chomsky recently has solidifed some half-formed, dormant thoughts I've had about my experience with the political science curriculum during my college years. To give you some short-and-sweet background: I began as a pre-law / political science major (back in 1988), took a few Constitutional Law courses and realized that I was more interested in the philosophical underpinnings of laws. This led to some philosophy courses and onward to graduate school in philosophy.

In retrospect, it seems that what was stressed in many of my political science courses and readings was not a critical analysis of systems of governance but, rather, a pragmatic understanding of how to use the political systems in place in order to propel certain agendas. So, for example, instead of questioning the theoretical/philosophical underpinnings of certain Supreme Court decisions, we spent time understanding the backdoor maneuverings of interest groups, politicians and judges on the path toward a certain decision. We also spend time understanding (with an undercurrent of appreciation) how existing institutional structures were exploited and manipulated to shield public exposure of how decisions come to be made.

In essence, we learned how to operate politically within frameworks rather than discussing the merits of pre-existing frameworks. If this trend is true across our educational institutions, it is no wonder, then, that discussions of "politics" in this country have focused primarily on the methods frameworks are used rather than a sustained, critical analysis of the frameworks.

I know this is a bit anecdotal, but I often see analysts on television networks or in print evaluate the merits of political figures based on how effective they are in using systems in place to get ahead. Discussion tends to focus on whether political figures are succesful at fundraising, at disseminating the correct spin on issues or at making tactical moves that will promote his/her political survival. In other words, appreciation and merit are often tied to their marketing choices. More time and resources are spent discussing whether political figures are effective marketers rather than discussing foundational questions about the U.S. political system.

I grew up in Mexico in the 70s and 80s. What I remember most vividly about the political environment in that country was the robust critical analysis of issues and the ever-present voice of a myriad of parties: socialist, communist, catholic, agrarian, etc. When issues were discussed, the philosophical merits of the matter at hand were of primary importance while political marketing techniques were exposed as warnings to the public. Each political party was given 30 minutes or an hour, on radio and television to broadcast freely. Things have changed since then, Mexican politics are approaching the United States model.

I suppose that teaching effective political marketing has become essential since anyone with political ambition needs to play the game to get their agenda in play. Those that may have an authentic interest in questioning existing frameworks may just have to play the game in order to get something done -- well, maybe not Nader.

| Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting |
| Univ. of Mich. Course: Politics and the Media -- see notes for Sept. 22, 2003 in particular (PDFs) |

Chomsky on Sports

In fact, I have the habit when I'm driving of turning on these radio call-in programs, and it's striking when you hear the ones about sports. They have these groups of sports reporters, or some kind of experts on a panel, and people call in and have discussions with them. First of all, the audience obviously is devoting an enormous amount of time to it all. But the more striking fact is, the callers have a tremendous amount of expertise, they have detailed knowledge of all kinds of things, they carry on these extremely complex discussions...

...And when you look at the structure of them, they seem like a kind of mathematics. It's as though people want to work out mathematical problems, and it they don't have calculus and arithmetic, they work them out with other structures...And what all these things look like is that people just want to use their intelligence somehow...

Well, in our society we have things that you might use your intelligence on, like politics, but people really can't get involved in them in a very serious way -- so what they do is put their minds to other things, such as sports. You're trained to be obedient; you don't have an interesting job; there's no work around for you that's creative; in the cultural environment you're a passive observer of usually pretty tawdry stuff...So what's left?

...And I suppose that's also one of the basic functions it serves society in general: it occupies the populations, and it keeps them from trying to get involved with things that really matter. In fact, I presume that's part of the reason why spectator sports are supported to the degree they are by the dominant institutions.

Noam Chomsky; Understanding Power, p. 99-100

Guilty as charged -- well, I do not call in, but D.C. knows. Go Sixers!

On the Radar Screen

Given my interest in urban planning, it is shameful that I have yet to read this book hailed by many interested in the development of cities as an essential tome; as a seminal text of the New Urbanism movement. According to critics and pundits, the observations and predictions within The Death and Life of Great American Cities were prophetic. I'll have to check it out. Anyone out there who has read this?

The Design of Cities is a discussion of city planning principles dating from ancient Athens to modern Brasilia and is also considered an essential text. I must admit that my principal interest in it would be his discussion of Philadelphia. Edmund Bacon was the principal city planner who converted and developed Philadelphia throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s -- with mixed results.

Always wanted to get this DVD but always found some odd excuse not to get it at the moment. I could go on and on about the riddle of how Tarkovsky can manage to communicate philosophical and mystical themes without too much dialogue, but that would be a bit much and contrary to the spirit of his films. Watching Nostalghia provides the same phenomenological qualities as spending a long time watching rain and fog do their thing on a craggy, mossy landscape. Doesn't that sound like fun?

By the way, I decided to provide a public service for all of you who have a difficult time figuring out what gifts to give me -- a link to my Amazon Wish List. This is part of my quest to increase epistemic clarity for all.

| Project for Public Spaces | Eric's Amazon Wish List |

In Boston

I'm in Boston attending the User Interface 8 conference in Cambridge, next to MIT. I've had the good fortune to bump into two small gems:

"To Be and To Have" is an unassuming and disarming documentary about a teacher and his young students in a small schoolhouse in the French countryside (Auvergne) during, I believe, a one year period. It earns our emotional connection without any traditional dramatic manipulations and it avoids the trap of relying on precocious children to spark our amazement. It was one of the few unabashed and pure emotional experiences I've had with a film.


Have not read "The Art of Taking a Walk" yet, but I bumped into it while exploring the MIT Coop's class textbook area -- I believe it was part of a film studies course. In the preface, the author promises, among other things, to discuss the cinematic nature of being a flaneur on the city streets and to discuss what she considers to be a phenomenon that is rarely discussed: female flaneurs and the particular ways the cityscape is read/interpreted by them. Add to this a discussion of Weimar Germany and....well.

Perhaps, if you are oh-so-lucky, I'll write more about the book once I read it.

In The Metro

I am in the process of reading "In the Metro" by Marc Auge. It is a small book where he muses about his experiences in the Paris Metro and engages in "ethnography" of its population.

There is an interesting bit about the tendency to give stations the name of some historic figure (e.g., "Charles de Gaulle - Etoile") or of some famous feature of the area (e.g., "Bastille"). Perhaps those in charge of naming such stations believed that the names would foment an appreciation of the history of the city or an appreciation of the unique places of the city. Being confronted with those names on a daily basis as one moves from one point to another might cause further reflection about Charles de Gaulle's contribution to France, for instance.

Auge, however, notes that the effort to increase civic knowledge and pride by naming subway stations in this manner actually may have the opposite effect. Think of the times you have coursed through a public transportation system and looked at maps and signs to orient yourself. Perhaps, during your first encounter with these names, you may have had some sustained thoughts about their referents. As time passes and familiarity with the transportation system increases, however, the names lose that historical/regional reference and they simply become scribbles and/or noises referring to that stop where the dentist's office is.

Sure. This is a generalization -- but there is some truth to it. Yet, Auge does not condemn people for losing hold of the original referents of those terms. Oddly enough, losing touch of the historic or regional referents of those names and creating your own idiosyncratic associations with those names is part of the process of becoming a full-fledged member of the urban community you are in.

Auge asks you to think of times when you are commuting in your subway system and you witness a tourist near you. The tourist glances out of the window at the station you are in, smiles and says with a sigh "Ah, the Bastille." It is at those moments when you set aside your primary associations (e.g., the place where my dentist is, good bookstore a block away, crappy coffee) and recall the grander intent of the subway planners.

It is a nice discussion and there are several other incisive observations about our relationship to our subway systems ranging from the complicity we feel travelling to mass events (e.g., sports events, political rallies) to the highly personal, almost Proustian memories that specific subway stations trigger in us.

| In the Metro by Marc Auge | The Subway Page: Links to Subway Maps from around the world |

The Flâneur

Let's start with a discussion of what it means to be a flâneur. A simple definition would be "one who strolls aimlessly through urban spaces." Often, being a flâneur is associated with idleness and with the decadent luxury of having enough time to take those meandering strolls.

Though the original use of the term might have applied to folks that were decadent dilettantes with plenty of idle time, several writers, theorists and philosophers have appropriated the term and have used it to refer to a more complex activity. Walter Benjamin, in particular, has done the most to bolster the meaning of the term. Instead of assuming that those who have the time to wander aimlessly through urban landscapes are only engaged in a cursory and leisurely survey of their environment, Benjamin brought attention to the cognitive value and pleasures associated with urban strolling.

A flâneur, under this interpretation, becomes an active sociologist or reader of the environment around him or her. As urban landscapes become more dense and the architecture more complex, opportunities to observe and interpret events and objects have increased in number and complexity. Unfortunately, this has occurred in tandem with accelerated industrialization and the entrechment of the capitalist work-ethic. More often than not, we spend time in our cities commuting to and from our work places; too preoccupied or tired to take note of the visual complexities around us. We rarely have time to pause and admire small details in the architecture or to pursue a reverie caused by some stranger's facial expression. Our workplaces have also become barren environments where, more often than not, visual complexity has been replaced by monotony -- all in the name of economic efficiency (i.e., cubicles).

This lack of engagement is worrisome since we are not exercising our cognitive skills to read our environment. Whether it is the result of the pressures of commuting, of our inane habit of completing errands at break-neck speeds or of simple laziness, our visual intelligence is becoming rusty. Whether it should be deemed an aesthetic and/or political movement, it is time to rekindle our abilities to engage actively with our immediate environment and resist the tendency to let it pass unnoticed as the rythmic swaying of our bus or train lulls us into a stupor.

“The street becomes a dwelling for the flâneur; he is as much at home among the facades of houses as a citizen in his four walls. To him the shiny, enamelled signs of business are at least as good a wall ornament as an oil painting is to a bourgeois in his salon. The walls are the desk against which he presses his notebooks; newsstands are his libraries and the terraces of cafés are the balconies from which he looks down on his household after his work is done.” ––– Walter Benjamin, “The Flâneur”

| Flâneur, Fall 2002 | The Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin | v-2.org |