TY - JOUR

T1 - Atmospheres of the inhospitable in staged kidnappings

AU - Tzanelli, R.

AU - Yar, M.

PY - 2021/9/30

Y1 - 2021/9/30

N2 - This article explores the paradoxical staging of experiences of “inhospitality,” taking shape as commercialised opportunities for individuals, willing to be voluntarily subjected to kidnapping. Such “extreme” leisure is facilitated by companies specialising in simulated captivities of clients. These simulations, which blend forms of performance with practices of violence, are situated theoretically within a revised iteration of Benjamin Barber’s thesis about “Jihad vs McWorld.” Barber’s original thesis would locate such stagings within a broader tendency of contemporary capitalism to co-opt and commoditise experiences associated with “terror” and suffering. Unlike Barber, we focus on the aesthetics and atmospheres of such experiences. We aim to comprehend the ways artistic “violence experts” articulate the meaning of such leisure for subjects striving to confront and manage the risks and uncertainties of a conflict-ridden lifeworld. Resembling the schadenfreude of dark tourism and the art of performance, kidnapping packages promote a form of aesthetic education into uncertainty. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

AB - This article explores the paradoxical staging of experiences of “inhospitality,” taking shape as commercialised opportunities for individuals, willing to be voluntarily subjected to kidnapping. Such “extreme” leisure is facilitated by companies specialising in simulated captivities of clients. These simulations, which blend forms of performance with practices of violence, are situated theoretically within a revised iteration of Benjamin Barber’s thesis about “Jihad vs McWorld.” Barber’s original thesis would locate such stagings within a broader tendency of contemporary capitalism to co-opt and commoditise experiences associated with “terror” and suffering. Unlike Barber, we focus on the aesthetics and atmospheres of such experiences. We aim to comprehend the ways artistic “violence experts” articulate the meaning of such leisure for subjects striving to confront and manage the risks and uncertainties of a conflict-ridden lifeworld. Resembling the schadenfreude of dark tourism and the art of performance, kidnapping packages promote a form of aesthetic education into uncertainty. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

KW - Atmosphere

KW - consumption

KW - edgework

KW - grobalisation

KW - hospitality

KW - simulation

U2 - 10.1080/10253866.2020.1803068

DO - 10.1080/10253866.2020.1803068

M3 - Journal article

VL - 24

SP - 439

EP - 455

JO - Consumption, Markets and Culture

JF - Consumption, Markets and Culture

SN - 1025-3866

IS - 5

ER -