The Disneyfication of New Orleans: An Essay on the Effects of Globalization In the last few decades, free-market capitalism in the

neoliberal tradition espoused by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan has become a hegemonic global system, with even former communist states such as China and Russia adopting the free-market model. Many would argue that globalization has brought tangible benefits to people, such as stable economic growth in some countries, and major advances in information and communications technology, which has led some to argue that the world has become a kind of 'global village'. However although global homogeneity in the modern system is often emphasized (Sklair 2002: 43) this ignores the fact that such benefits have not reached many people; organizations such as the UN recognize that economic growth has been unequal globally, and even though the living standards of some have skyrocketed, millions of people across the globe lack even basic security and amenities (2002: 49). Harvey has called the tendency towards neoliberal globalization a restoration of class power, with the upper classes regaining lost wealth and power, and the working classes losing out (2005: 8). In the Guardian article of 28 August' 2008, 'The Disneyfication of New Orleans' Anna Hartnell describes that, following the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the city, many of the poor minorities in the city were made homeless, and have since been unable to return. By exploring themes of globalization, this essay will argue that the hurricane disaster in New Orleans has highlighted existing inequalities there in terms of wealth and basic security, and also that the particular kind of neoliberal post-disaster reconstruction of the city could be seen as a kind of deliberate 'creative destruction' of the ways of life of many to the benefit of a small few, as part of a wider neoliberal project of economic re-organization (Harvey 2007). I will also question whether this group has hegemonic control in the global capitalist system, through control of the mass media, what effect this has on wider society and if any effective opposition can be mounted against the dominant public discourse. An important theme in capitalist globalization is inequality. Income inequalities that exist between states are widely recognized; the World Trade Organization recognizes that the global capitalist system produces unfavourable outcomes for certain groups (Sklair 2002: 50). The gaps in income between countries are stark; in developing countries over 33% of people were living in extreme poverty in 2000, compared to just 7-15% in industrialized countries (UNDP 2000a: 32, cited in Sklair 2002: 49). However despite these differences, Sklair notes that it is a person's relationship to capital which determines their place in the modern global economy (2002: 52), and there are significant differences in wealth in the U.S. Itself, generally considered to be the leader of the global economy. In the U.S. for example, the top 1% possess more wealth than 90% of the population (2002: 53). Such inequality is clearly marked in a city such as New Orleans, in which Hartnell notes that the group worst affected by the disaster and subsequent reconstruction has been the working class mostly black African-Americans on low incomes, living in the lower ninth ward district of New Orleans. In his analysis of capitalist globalisation, Sklair notes that in the U.S., the number of black families living in poverty is 15% higher than white families. (2002: 53) The crisis has highlighted class divisions within the city - the black communities of New Orleans usually came from the urban areas, living in cheap public housing. Of these 57% lost their homes in the disaster, compared to just 36% of whites (Hartnell 2008). New Orleans is not unique in its inequality; Sklair notes that there has been an increasing trend towards urbanization resulting from globalization, and in many cities across the world stark contrasts between poverty and prosperity now exist within short distances from each other, where the rich can be protected from the negative effects of globalization in 'gated communities', whereas the poorest groups are highly vulnerable to problems such as diseases and crime, as in for example the favelas of Rio De Janeiro, where most of the minority black population resides (Sklair 2002: 88, O'Brien & Leichenko: 80) Apart from economic differences, another aspect of this inequality the New Orleans crisis highlighted is the uncertainty and lack of basic security for minority groups. O'Brien and Leichenko have argued through their theory of 'double exposure' that the two global forces of environmental change and free-market globalization interact to create 'winners and losers' across the world; for

example increasing global production results in greater carbon levels leading to sea rises, which can cause floods in vulnerable areas. They argue the most vulnerable groups are usually worst affected by such disasters, and the people who benefit from one tend to benefit from the other as well (O'Brien & Leichenko 2008: 10). They cite the example of New Orleans to show that poor, elderly and African-American groups were highly vulnerable to the effects of both. For example they note that much of the wetlands, which had previously helped protect residents from flooding, had been destroyed to facilitate the transportation of oil (2008: 87), and that a lack of public funding leading to weak state institutions such as FEMA have meant a lack of funding for environmental protection, as well as for the protection of the most vulnerable groups (2008: 89), such as the poor African-Americans living in the lower Ninth Ward, who were highly exposed to the disaster which occurred. Continued environmental destruction in future resulting from globalization processes could lead to greater devastation for poorer groups, which typically have less protection from disasters such as hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans it appears that through the type of reconstruction being carried out, low-income groups are being disadvantaged further still. Hartnell (2008) has referred to the New Orleans reconstruction as amounting to a 'Disneyfication' of the city, a destruction of the rich culture the city has historically had. O'Brien & Leichenko state that New Orleans is typical of many global urban areas, in having been transformed into a site of global consumption, undermining traditional industries, such as fishing, and undermining traditional culture, focusing instead on the tourism industry and the commodification of traditional cultural events such as the Mardi Gras (2008: 88). This process can be seen as an example of what Sklair calls the downgrading of indigenous practices in favour of transnational industries, dominant in the new neoliberal globalized free-market economy (2002: 102). He notes that cities and urban spaces across the world have been transformed in order to fit better into a new type of economy which is organized on a global scale, and this has been marked with a decline in high income, industrial work and a rise in low-income, informal work in many of those places (2002: 88). O'Brien and Leichenko state that this has phenomenon has occurred in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina, with low-wage, informal jobs dominating the new tourist industry and migrant workers filling these (2008: 88). Whereas many of the poor black communities which arguably made the city a spectacular symbol of African American success (Hartnell 2008) thanks to its rich cultural heritage have been forced to emigrate due to lack of affordable housing in the 'new' city the reconstruction has favoured building of higher-rent private homes and hotels built for new wealthy residents and tourists, a process which Hartnell has called 'gentrification' (2008). One could argue that the social, economic as well as cultural landscape has been transformed in New Orleans as a result of the reconstruction (O'Brien & Leichenko 2008: 88). Since this has had devastating consequences for many in the city, it may be useful to try to determine in whose interests the reconstruction was carried out. Harvey suggests that projects such as the New Orleans reconstruction represent what he calls 'neoliberalism as creative destruction'. He argues that since the 70s, a restoration of class power has occurred, with the upper classes gaining back lost wealth in most countries. He argues that this has not actually improved the economy, but has improved the position of those groups economically. One method of this kind of distribution he argues is privatization, which has been increasingly implemented in many countries since neoliberalism gained prominence in the Thatcher/Reagan era (2007:17). In New Orleans Hartnell notes the general decline in public services, and especially the public housing that many residents were so reliant on, has amounted to a 'privatization' of housing and a subsequent rise in house prices in the city (Hartnell 2008) Neoliberalism, Harvey argues has become entrenched and hegemonic in the global economy, due in part to ideas such as 'freedom' and 'liberty' being used to justify free-market measures which would have been seen as deeply unjust before the neoliberal era (2007: 12) as well as control of the media by the upper classes. There is some evidence to support the theory that the upper strata of society has gained substantially during the last 30 years for example Harvey cites evidence which shows that the income of the top 0.1% of earners tripled from 1978-1999 (2007: 8). There is a view that in New Orleans, private sector and state actors have collaborated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as part of a concerted effort to transform the economy along neoliberal lines. Sklair refers to this group of people as a 'transnational capitalist class' an elite group consisting of

those with economic, political and media power to further their ideas, and who are united not by notions of national identity or solidarity but the pursuit of a commercial agenda. The privatization of public housing, the rise of the tourist industry and decline in public services spending (Hartnell 2008) that have occurred since Katrina hit the city seem to confirm this view, and the type of urban restructuring such that has taken place in New Orleans is not unique; Sklair notes that similar restructuring has occurred globally, in cities such as Calcutta and Rio De Janeiro (Sklair 2002: 88). One U.S. politician even cynically stated: we finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans...we couldn't do it, but God did (Hartnell 2008). Despite the obvious political and economic power of this class of people, such projects would be difficult to achieve without popular support. The role of the media therefore is important in disseminating information to the public. When the crisis hit in New Orleans, much attention was paid through the media to the lack of help provided by the government to the poorest groups (Hartnell 2008). However since that time the media focus has left New Orleans, and there has been stigmatization of the poor black minority groups in the city disseminated through the media. One politician for example stated: we don't need soap-opera watchers right now. (Hartnell 2008). Statements such as these may be seen as a concerted effort to shift the blame from the negative social effects of the city's reconstruction, onto notions of individual laziness of the stigmatized minority black community, and possibly make people think the migration of such people is not a bad thing for the city. In addition Hartnell notes that false stories have been circulated about black people committing crime, which seem to confirm lazy stereotypes about black people. This demonization is seen by Hartnell as a way of masking the problems such people now face in returning to New Orleans and regaining their livelihoods, and in fact most media attention has now left the city (2008). It remains to be seen whether it will return. We may be able to explain the way these events are portrayed in terms of the interests of the media groups who control the messages people receive. Sklair sees interests in the mass media as being mostly controlled by the 'transnational capitalist class', the upper class of income earners which seeks to maintain ideological control and propagate 'consumer culture' as a way to stimulate demand in the globalized economy, or a buying mood (Sklair 2002: 107). This may help explain why such messages are propagated through the media, as the kind of consumer culture brought about by the reconstruction of New Orleans, as seen in the marketing of Mardi Gras (O'Brien & Leichenko 2008: 88) is highly valuable and it is important that this ideology remains hegemonic in the public mindset (2002: 107). Sklair cites a study in India which shows that as mass media consumption increased in India, people became less concerned with poverty reduction and more with consumption (2002: 177). This indicates that mass media may be very effective in shaping public discourse and may have the power to shape people's interests. Since control of most mass media is in the control of just several large companies, the interests of those who control those companies can be served by disseminating only selective information to the public (Sklair 2002: 65). However if this is true, the control of public discourse by mass media companies cannot be complete, as there is still public recognition about the lack of help given to the exiled minority community in New Orleans, and a grass-roots movement now exists, including a mix of people from different backgrounds to organize a right of return for displaced residents (Hartnell, 2008). This kind of discontent may explain why U.S. president Barack Obama has recently promised greater help for those worst affected, however it remains to be seen whether he will keep this promise. Sklair states that it would be nave to assume that most media messages actually do have the effects their creators intend (2002: 109); indeed new forms of social organization exist which may challenge the messages disseminated by the mass media with its commercial interests, taking advantage of the transnational nature of new communications technologies which exist to be truly global movements. One example of this would be human rights and environmental movements, represented by global organizations such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, which may at times be able to effectively oppose the hegemonic system. Other types of social organization may also serve to transform public discourse, such as public protest and boycotts, and these may be helped with the aid of independent media such as the internet. As promising as these movements may be in presenting a genuine challenge to the global system however, there is

still a substantial 'digital divide' with many marginalized groups not having access to media, although the situation seems to be improving somewhat, with many more personal computers now in use in third world countries for example (Sklair 2002: 111-112). As we can see, capitalist globalization has brought benefits to some, although arguably not to most people globally, and in fact has caused global income and security inequalities within and between states to rise overall (Sklair 2002: 49). The post-hurricane Katrina reconstruction in New Orleans serves to illustrate the deep social divisions that exist between social groups even within cities. The reconstruction carried out in New Orleans has changed, possibly irreversibly the local economy and culture of New Orleans in order to better fit the neoliberal globalized economic model. The 'transnational capitalist class', to use Sklair's (2002) term, may be able to influence much public discourse through the mass media, however their control may be somewhat limited by new forms of social organization and new types of communications technology such as the internet, where anyone can post information which can reach wide audiences in a new kind of global democracy, although the 'digital divide' still prevents many people, including the poorest in the World, from engaging in this process. We can see from O'Brien and Leichenko's analysis that future environmental catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina may be in part caused by capitalist globalization, and may become more frequent, so it may be argued that if the current form of capitalist globalization is to continue, protection is needed more than ever for the most vulnerable communities across the World. References http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/28/usa.hurricanekatrina/print (2008) [Accessed 13.10.2010] Harvey, D. (2007), 'Neo-Liberalism as Creative Destruction', INTERFACEHS: A Journal on Integrated Management of Occupational Health and the Environment, Vol.2, No.4, s. 1-28. Leichenko, R.M. & O'Brien, K. (2008), Environmental Change and Globalization. Oxford: Uniersity Press. Sklair, L. (2002) Globalization: Capitalism and its Alternatives, Oxford: University Press.