Over the last few weeks I've spent time with people from Austria, Estonia, France and Poland. All countries who are fully fledged members of the European Union. But not all of these people are originally from these countries they call home. One of them is actually a holder of a S-Korean passport and another has a family that traces its routes to Russia. Now based on the propaganda from the anti-EU camp here in Iceland. This sort of thing should be impossible. Apparently as soon as Iceland signs up to the European Union. All foreign relations will be closed. Except to countries within the EU. It's like we wouldn't be able to attract any foreign investment or foreigners to Iceland. Except from countries within the EU. We'll become part of this. Hold on a second. I'm not even going to use this metaphor. Because it's so incredibly stupid that it's like a white person trying to argue that using the "N" word is just part of "open and frank discussion on racial issues". So I won't say it. But here's a link to it. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
Actually I'll have to admit that I was surprised to learn. That Poland has been a magnet for foreign investment since it joined the EU. I actually shouldn't have. After all the Polish have a great central location. Actually right in the middle of Europe. Once the Soviet block collapsed. The Poles started to draw in foreign investors. I'm sure the foreign investors liked the fact that wages were low. But I don't think it was just that. I'm sure that they also liked the fact that Poland was quick to apply for both EU and NATO membership. After all, when you are thinking about how to invest your money, you'd rather not invest it somewhere without a clear legal environment. You'd also want to be able to get to your money when you need it. You'd prefer a location with a well educated population. Somewhere with a political system that wasn't corrupt. A location that offered good transportation options to your key markets. Now I'm thinking how well Iceland seems to measure up to these requirements. How well does your own country do?
But enough with the political stuff. I've seen some fantastic movies lately. Saw Departures the other day. Departures is a 2008 Japanese film by Yōjirō Takita. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars. Fantastic movie. If you have some time and know how to find this movie. Do yourself a favor and get it and watch it. It's such a refreshing experience to see such a good movie.
10 ágúst 2010
13 júlí 2010
Isolationism Isn't Patriotism
I’m becoming less tolerant of xenophobia and isolationism than I’ve been in the past. Doesn’t mean that I believe that every culture under the sun is equal. I’m actually quite proud of my Nordic cultural roots. There’s something to be said for societies that seem to have managed to find a way to make their kids the smartest in the world. To have governments with some of the lowest debt ratios in the world (and no it’s not my own). To create societies that guarantee everyone access to basic (and quite extensive in some cases) health care, education and social services. To create societies with some of the best living standards in the world according to the UN. It really irritates the right wing nutters in the US that for some strange reason the Nordic countries seem to manage to offer both generally high levels of wealth creation and some of the best social welfare structures in the world. I’m quite proud of this fact and I think there’s a lot here that others could learn from.
One reason why I’m so proud of my background is because I’ve actually had an opportunity to contrast it with other places. Yesterday I was listening to a program on the BBC. Jeremy Hardy Speaks To the Nation. The subject was what it means to be British. Again and again I found myself nodding in agreement with Jeremy. One of the things he mentioned. Was the fact that Britain might actually have been ruled by the Scandinavians instead of being invaded by the Normans (which shouldn’t be confused with the Norwegians, but actually come from Normandy). One of the great things about Britain. One of the things I like the most about Britain. Is how multi cultural it is. They’ve actually managed to be fairly successful in creating a multi cultural society. I really love this fact. Like Jeremy put it: “I can honestly say that I can be the only white person on a bus and not even notice. Conversely, if I’m on the bus and everybody is white, I’m thinking; blimey there really are a lot of Polish people in the country”.
Just because Iceland managed to be isolated, have a fairly homogenous culture and a language that hardly changed for hundreds of years. Isn’t in my view any reason why we should fight to keep it that way. After all, the more isolated we were, the poorer Iceland was. Our most prosperous period. Is the modern period. We’ve never had it so good in our entire history. Does anyone really want to go back to a situation that saw Iceland being isolated from the rest of the world? Does anyone really think that it makes sense to only export stuff and not import anything? Anyone want to live just on “pure” Icelandic products? Anyone seriously want to argue that too many people in Iceland?
I’ve been lucky enough to live abroad for more than a couple of weeks on vacation. That’s when I really started to appreciate people with varied backgrounds. Because I’m not trying to argue that you don’t have stupid and ignorant people evenly spread out around the world. I think on the whole you do. But what I really could appreciate was the fact that there were spices beyond just salt and pepper. That you could do something else with fish than boil it and serve it with potatoes and butter. That cheese didn’t just come in one size and a single flavour. I was exposed to various cultures and I survived it just fine. I actually realized that Iceland was poorer for not being exposed to these influences.
I still remember one incidence. We have lots of really nice swimming pools here and I was babysitting my sisters oldest. He loved the water and this was the best fun you could offer him. I’m not sure exactly how old he was. Somewhere between knowing how to talk and not having started elementary school. And we were chilling along with a number of other people in one of the small hot pots when this dark skinned guy came into it. My cousin was really surprised and I think this was probably the first time he had seen someone who wasn’t a white caucasian. Because he came to me and asked: “How come he didn’t take a shower and get clean”? Which I thought was extremely funny.
I’m going to make the words of Jeremy Hardy my own this time around “I’m actually very fond of our land and it’s people. But I believe that patriotism like religion and flatulence should be private”. Your idea of what makes your home country great could be quite different from mine. Doesn’t mean that your brand of patriotism is any less genuine than mine. So show me the same respect. I just don’t accept that those who want to keep Iceland isolated, have any claim to a superior brand of patriotism.
One reason why I’m so proud of my background is because I’ve actually had an opportunity to contrast it with other places. Yesterday I was listening to a program on the BBC. Jeremy Hardy Speaks To the Nation. The subject was what it means to be British. Again and again I found myself nodding in agreement with Jeremy. One of the things he mentioned. Was the fact that Britain might actually have been ruled by the Scandinavians instead of being invaded by the Normans (which shouldn’t be confused with the Norwegians, but actually come from Normandy). One of the great things about Britain. One of the things I like the most about Britain. Is how multi cultural it is. They’ve actually managed to be fairly successful in creating a multi cultural society. I really love this fact. Like Jeremy put it: “I can honestly say that I can be the only white person on a bus and not even notice. Conversely, if I’m on the bus and everybody is white, I’m thinking; blimey there really are a lot of Polish people in the country”.
Just because Iceland managed to be isolated, have a fairly homogenous culture and a language that hardly changed for hundreds of years. Isn’t in my view any reason why we should fight to keep it that way. After all, the more isolated we were, the poorer Iceland was. Our most prosperous period. Is the modern period. We’ve never had it so good in our entire history. Does anyone really want to go back to a situation that saw Iceland being isolated from the rest of the world? Does anyone really think that it makes sense to only export stuff and not import anything? Anyone want to live just on “pure” Icelandic products? Anyone seriously want to argue that too many people in Iceland?
I’ve been lucky enough to live abroad for more than a couple of weeks on vacation. That’s when I really started to appreciate people with varied backgrounds. Because I’m not trying to argue that you don’t have stupid and ignorant people evenly spread out around the world. I think on the whole you do. But what I really could appreciate was the fact that there were spices beyond just salt and pepper. That you could do something else with fish than boil it and serve it with potatoes and butter. That cheese didn’t just come in one size and a single flavour. I was exposed to various cultures and I survived it just fine. I actually realized that Iceland was poorer for not being exposed to these influences.
I still remember one incidence. We have lots of really nice swimming pools here and I was babysitting my sisters oldest. He loved the water and this was the best fun you could offer him. I’m not sure exactly how old he was. Somewhere between knowing how to talk and not having started elementary school. And we were chilling along with a number of other people in one of the small hot pots when this dark skinned guy came into it. My cousin was really surprised and I think this was probably the first time he had seen someone who wasn’t a white caucasian. Because he came to me and asked: “How come he didn’t take a shower and get clean”? Which I thought was extremely funny.
I’m going to make the words of Jeremy Hardy my own this time around “I’m actually very fond of our land and it’s people. But I believe that patriotism like religion and flatulence should be private”. Your idea of what makes your home country great could be quite different from mine. Doesn’t mean that your brand of patriotism is any less genuine than mine. So show me the same respect. I just don’t accept that those who want to keep Iceland isolated, have any claim to a superior brand of patriotism.
06 júlí 2010
What Motivates Us
I recently posted a video on my Facebook profile. The thing is. Not everyone who reads this blog is my friend on Facebook. So I want to share it here as well. Just make sure that it gets more distribution. I know that some of the people who read this blog aren’t connected to me on Facebook. They might not want to do so. But I'm easy enough to find there - just look for Sigmundur Halldorsson -
Now this was a brilliant video which the author of the Grand Narrative posted on Facebook and I picked it up from there. Takes you about 10 minutes to watch. But it's really time well spent.
What's brilliant about this video is that it actually made me discover the RSA. Made me realize that even a 250 year old organisation can be doing stuff that makes me love the web all over again. "For over 250 years the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Our approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action." They've produced some other good ones. It's really worth jumping over to YouTube to see some of their other stuff if you've only seen this one.
Now this was a brilliant video which the author of the Grand Narrative posted on Facebook and I picked it up from there. Takes you about 10 minutes to watch. But it's really time well spent.
What's brilliant about this video is that it actually made me discover the RSA. Made me realize that even a 250 year old organisation can be doing stuff that makes me love the web all over again. "For over 250 years the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Our approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action." They've produced some other good ones. It's really worth jumping over to YouTube to see some of their other stuff if you've only seen this one.
05 júlí 2010
On Xenophobia and Isolationism in Iceland
One of the rather unfortunate side effects of the economic downturn is the rise in xenophobia and isolationism here in Iceland. It’s a sort of siege mentality. Appropriately enough there’s even a book out called “The Siege” (links to an Icelandic review of the book) in which the author, Styrmir Gunnarsson, argues that foreign banks, the IMF and the European Union set out to destroy the Icelandic economy and take over our resources. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Styrmir (we go by first names here in Iceland) is a member of the Icelandic anti EU movement. The same arguments can be heard in many quarters these days and recent public opinion surveys show a negative attitude towards Iceland joining the European Union.
I can’t say that I’m surprised. Iceland was for a very long time a homogenous society, with relatively little contact with the outside world. Our nationalism is based on the same foundations of Nordic superiority as was evident in parts of Europe until 1945 and we haven’t really adjusted to the fact that this idea was completely rejected. Nor have we been able to follow the rather obvious trend in European foreign policy, which is the idea that working together makes the whole stronger than the individual nations. To me this seems fairly self evident. In an international system based upon anarchy (i.e. might makes right), the rule of law pushed for by the European Union, makes a lot of sense for a small weak nation state like Iceland. Indeed we have been quite happy to become members of NATO. This despite not having our own army, which sort begs the question of what support we would give in the event of an attack on another NATO member state. We are long time members of the UN, WTO (formerly GATT) and numerous other international bodies.
So I’ve been thinking about what might explain our reluctance to become full fledged members of the most successful supranational democratic institution ever created. We’re quite close in cultural terms to Norway and it’s worth noting that Norway has twice rejected EU membership. I’ve looked at the multiple reasons given by the objectors and there seem to be a common thread there. The foreigners are out to get us. Which is strange considering Icelandic history. We may have fought over fishing rights with the UK, but in general our history has few indications that foreigners have a particular interest in taking over Iceland. Even the US seems to have shown considerable restraint in interfering in Icelandic affairs during the cold war. So without any actual evidence for this idea, it’s hard to take it seriously. As a matter of fact, besides us paying back loans we may have taken out from banks around the world, I don’t think foreigners have a great deal of interest in Iceland or our affairs. Indeed the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. It seems to indicate that foreign interest in Iceland is generally positive and benign.
Just recently we had a great example of this. A Chinese government official came to visit Iceland. We ended up getting credit lines from the Chinese central bank, some commercial agreements and in general some positive indications from the Chinese that they would like to be seen as friends of Iceland. Surprisingly, this seemed to have the opposite effect. At least if you read the Icelandic blogsphere (link in Icelandic) and news media. Immediately some Icelandic commentators started speculating on the ulterior motives of the scheming Chinese. The Chinese were here to take over our resources. Which would be easy enough for them to do. We have 3 bankrupt banks which would cost them about 1 days revenue (or less) to purchase outright. Along with deeds to just about every resource we have. But they haven’t shown the slightest bit of interest in doing so. The Chinese Embassy has just moved into a much larger building. Becoming overnight, the largest embassy in Reykjavik. But this might simply be a matter of sound commercial judgement by the Chinese. After all real estate prices have plummeted in Reykjavik, so they probably got a good deal on the new embassy building. Nonetheless, I’m not naive enough to think that the Chinese did this out of the goodness of their hearts. As a matter of fact, this gesture is in line with current Chinese foreign policy. Of building up goodwill among a broad spectrum of nations. Furthermore, if the Northwestern passage opens up. Iceland might become a great place to have a friendly container port. But it’s hard to imagine that we’d place special restrictions on international shipping, including the Chinese. What is of deep interest to the Chinese is building positive relations with nations in NATO and the European Union. I think this interest in Iceland is a great opportunity for us. There is already a positive relationship between us and China. China is a rapidly rising power. Second largest economic power in the world already and set to surpass the US within a few years. It all reminds me of something my a former colleague of mine used to say: “The east is not a beast, but a feast”. Which is true on multiple levels. Instead of being frightened of the rest of the world, we should be open to it. Embrace the opportunity offered by membership in the EU. Embrace the opportunity offered by friendly relations with the Chinese. Being afraid, isolationist and xenophobic is surely the road to ruin.
I can’t say that I’m surprised. Iceland was for a very long time a homogenous society, with relatively little contact with the outside world. Our nationalism is based on the same foundations of Nordic superiority as was evident in parts of Europe until 1945 and we haven’t really adjusted to the fact that this idea was completely rejected. Nor have we been able to follow the rather obvious trend in European foreign policy, which is the idea that working together makes the whole stronger than the individual nations. To me this seems fairly self evident. In an international system based upon anarchy (i.e. might makes right), the rule of law pushed for by the European Union, makes a lot of sense for a small weak nation state like Iceland. Indeed we have been quite happy to become members of NATO. This despite not having our own army, which sort begs the question of what support we would give in the event of an attack on another NATO member state. We are long time members of the UN, WTO (formerly GATT) and numerous other international bodies.
So I’ve been thinking about what might explain our reluctance to become full fledged members of the most successful supranational democratic institution ever created. We’re quite close in cultural terms to Norway and it’s worth noting that Norway has twice rejected EU membership. I’ve looked at the multiple reasons given by the objectors and there seem to be a common thread there. The foreigners are out to get us. Which is strange considering Icelandic history. We may have fought over fishing rights with the UK, but in general our history has few indications that foreigners have a particular interest in taking over Iceland. Even the US seems to have shown considerable restraint in interfering in Icelandic affairs during the cold war. So without any actual evidence for this idea, it’s hard to take it seriously. As a matter of fact, besides us paying back loans we may have taken out from banks around the world, I don’t think foreigners have a great deal of interest in Iceland or our affairs. Indeed the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. It seems to indicate that foreign interest in Iceland is generally positive and benign.
Just recently we had a great example of this. A Chinese government official came to visit Iceland. We ended up getting credit lines from the Chinese central bank, some commercial agreements and in general some positive indications from the Chinese that they would like to be seen as friends of Iceland. Surprisingly, this seemed to have the opposite effect. At least if you read the Icelandic blogsphere (link in Icelandic) and news media. Immediately some Icelandic commentators started speculating on the ulterior motives of the scheming Chinese. The Chinese were here to take over our resources. Which would be easy enough for them to do. We have 3 bankrupt banks which would cost them about 1 days revenue (or less) to purchase outright. Along with deeds to just about every resource we have. But they haven’t shown the slightest bit of interest in doing so. The Chinese Embassy has just moved into a much larger building. Becoming overnight, the largest embassy in Reykjavik. But this might simply be a matter of sound commercial judgement by the Chinese. After all real estate prices have plummeted in Reykjavik, so they probably got a good deal on the new embassy building. Nonetheless, I’m not naive enough to think that the Chinese did this out of the goodness of their hearts. As a matter of fact, this gesture is in line with current Chinese foreign policy. Of building up goodwill among a broad spectrum of nations. Furthermore, if the Northwestern passage opens up. Iceland might become a great place to have a friendly container port. But it’s hard to imagine that we’d place special restrictions on international shipping, including the Chinese. What is of deep interest to the Chinese is building positive relations with nations in NATO and the European Union. I think this interest in Iceland is a great opportunity for us. There is already a positive relationship between us and China. China is a rapidly rising power. Second largest economic power in the world already and set to surpass the US within a few years. It all reminds me of something my a former colleague of mine used to say: “The east is not a beast, but a feast”. Which is true on multiple levels. Instead of being frightened of the rest of the world, we should be open to it. Embrace the opportunity offered by membership in the EU. Embrace the opportunity offered by friendly relations with the Chinese. Being afraid, isolationist and xenophobic is surely the road to ruin.
02 júlí 2010
An Important Date 10.10.10
From: Bill McKibben - 350.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Subject: Circle this date.
To: You
Dear World,
It's been a tough year: in North America, oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico; in Asia some of the highest temperatures ever recorded; in the Arctic, the fastest melting of sea ice ever seen; in Latin America, record rainfalls washing away whole mountainsides.
So we're having a party.
Circle 10/10/10 on your calendar. That's the date. The place is wherever you live. And the point is to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community.
We're calling it a Global Work Party, with emphasis on both 'work' and 'party'. In Auckland, New Zealand, they're having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. In Kampala, Uganda, they're going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they're installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic.
Since we've already worked hard to call, email, petition, and protest to get politicians to move, and they haven't moved fast enough, now it's time to show that we really do have the tools we need to get serious about the climate crisis.
On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this--but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters. The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a pointed political message: if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.
You can sign up to host a local event at www.350.org/oct10
Or search for an event to join at www.350.org/map
And don't worry about being alone at this party: there are already 1077 groups in 109 countries around the world scheduled to do something great that day. We'll knit all these groups together with a powerful mosaic of photos, videos, and stories from around the world. You wouldn't want to miss it.
It's been a tough year--but it can be a beautiful day on the 10th Of October if we work together, and party together. And if we do it right, then we'll take a big step towards the kind of political solutions we desperately need.
Onwards!
Bill McKibben and the 350.org team
P.S. If you feel a little shy, or wonder if you can really make a party work, check out these pictures from last year's Global Day of Action. There were 5200 demonstrations in 181 countries, which means an awful lot of folks like you figured out how to get it done!
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Subject: Circle this date.
To: You
Dear World,
It's been a tough year: in North America, oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico; in Asia some of the highest temperatures ever recorded; in the Arctic, the fastest melting of sea ice ever seen; in Latin America, record rainfalls washing away whole mountainsides.
So we're having a party.
Circle 10/10/10 on your calendar. That's the date. The place is wherever you live. And the point is to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community.
We're calling it a Global Work Party, with emphasis on both 'work' and 'party'. In Auckland, New Zealand, they're having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. In Kampala, Uganda, they're going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they're installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic.
Since we've already worked hard to call, email, petition, and protest to get politicians to move, and they haven't moved fast enough, now it's time to show that we really do have the tools we need to get serious about the climate crisis.
On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this--but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters. The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a pointed political message: if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.
You can sign up to host a local event at www.350.org/oct10
Or search for an event to join at www.350.org/map
And don't worry about being alone at this party: there are already 1077 groups in 109 countries around the world scheduled to do something great that day. We'll knit all these groups together with a powerful mosaic of photos, videos, and stories from around the world. You wouldn't want to miss it.
It's been a tough year--but it can be a beautiful day on the 10th Of October if we work together, and party together. And if we do it right, then we'll take a big step towards the kind of political solutions we desperately need.
Onwards!
Bill McKibben and the 350.org team
P.S. If you feel a little shy, or wonder if you can really make a party work, check out these pictures from last year's Global Day of Action. There were 5200 demonstrations in 181 countries, which means an awful lot of folks like you figured out how to get it done!
25 júní 2010
Gender Roles In S-Korean Pop Music
I mentioned in a previously that I’ve been reading an interesting blog. The Grand Narrative is a blog on Korean Sociology through gender, advertising and popular culture. I came across this blog through music. A friend of mine. One of the better dj’s here in Iceland. A guy who’s both mixed better and produced some of the sweetest sounds I’ve heard in my life. Once said that "music is a universal language". There’s a lot of truth in that. So at some point some months ago. I was on YouTube looking for stuff to watch and listen to. Because YouTube isn’t just for great videos, it’s also a great source of music you can’t find anywhere else. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this. But if you register on YouTube, it will recommend stuff for you to watch. For some reason, on this particular day it recommended that I watch some South Korean music.
At that point in time I knew nothing about S-Korean music at all. My main musical taste is electronic dance music. House and techno and that sort of stuff is the soundtrack of my life and S-Korea isn’t exactly famous for producing it. As it turned out this was a promotion by one of the largest music publishers in S-Korea. A firm called SM-Entertainment which was promoting their most popular act Girls Generation. You might be familiar with the concept of girls groups. But this was taking it to a whole new level. Here they had 9 girls in a single group. The song wasn’t bad, but didn’t strike me as all that great, even if the girls where easy on the eyes and I sort of watched the video and thought to myself. “Interesting to see the girl group concept in an Asian version”. What surprised me a bit afterwards, was the fact that the song stuck in my head. If you’re interested here’s the video to the song.
This was my first introduction to the Korean music marketing machine. I have have an interest in music related things and one of the things I can appreciate is a well written pop song. There’s a formula behind it. It’s the length of the old time 7 inch single. Somewhere around 3-4 minutes long. It contains a hook that for some reason sticks in your head. This song did. So that got me interested in discovering more S-Korean pop music. Which turned out to be an adventure in discovering a thriving music industry that is apparently quite successful in Asia and starting to get more attention further afield. Something that is known as the Korean wave. From an Icelandic viewpoint. The pop stuff looked quite similar to many of the pop groups being promoted here. What I didn’t know. Until I started reading the Grand Narrative. Was that S-Korean society is quite different from ours. For one thing it’s based on the Confucian societal ideal. Which is quite different from ours. There’s also a disparity in the status of the sexes. Something we here find a bit strange. But the one similarity I found striking. There’s a strong streak in S-Korean society about keeping it homogenous. A feeling of cultural identity that apparently leads people there to respond to foreigners comments and criticism of S-Korean society by saying that they don’t understand what’s special about S-Korea. Which reminds me of our viewpoint. That Iceland is in some way unique. In my view there’s actually a very strong streak of xenophobia and racism here. A sense that seems to be shared by a large part of the Icelandic population. That evil foreigners are plotting to exploit us. Which to me seems somewhat farfetched. So with that in mind, what made S-Korean popular music interesting is that it didn’t seem that different from what I’d seen before from artist in N-America or Europe.
It wasn’t until I started reading The Grand Narrative that I realized that actually there’s quite a bit more to it. As I mentioned before the status of the genders is quite different from what we take for granted here. The rise of the Korean girls groups, of which there are now quite a few popular examples. Might actually be a reflection of a change in the gender roles within Korean society. That these gender roles would be best described as traditional might be an understatement. For example the wage disparity between men and women in S-Korea is the highest in all of the OECD countries and on average women in S-Korea only earn 60% of what men do. That there are quite strict societal norms concerning the relations between the sexes, which result in women being ill informed about family planning and women having to suffer all sorts of inequalities in the workplace. That S-Korea has one of the lowest birthrates around and that due to the emphasis on outward appearance it’s common for most of these pop group members to have undergone some sort of plastic surgery. That while some of these groups use strong sexual under (and over) tones in their visual imagery, this is not a subject that Korean males feel comfortable about discussing. The author of The Grand Narrative has speculated on what level those involved in these pop groups are actually aware of how their image is being used for marketing purposes. Because, and I find this interesting, there’s a fine line between empowerment and exploitation when it comes to pop groups. It seems like these groups may represent the vanguard of a growing female empowerment in S-Korea. But it could just as well be argued that the women who form these groups are simply being exploited. This would get far to long if I get into that discussion and The Grand Narrative does a far better analysis. So if you find this interesting I would head over there and read more.
At that point in time I knew nothing about S-Korean music at all. My main musical taste is electronic dance music. House and techno and that sort of stuff is the soundtrack of my life and S-Korea isn’t exactly famous for producing it. As it turned out this was a promotion by one of the largest music publishers in S-Korea. A firm called SM-Entertainment which was promoting their most popular act Girls Generation. You might be familiar with the concept of girls groups. But this was taking it to a whole new level. Here they had 9 girls in a single group. The song wasn’t bad, but didn’t strike me as all that great, even if the girls where easy on the eyes and I sort of watched the video and thought to myself. “Interesting to see the girl group concept in an Asian version”. What surprised me a bit afterwards, was the fact that the song stuck in my head. If you’re interested here’s the video to the song.
This was my first introduction to the Korean music marketing machine. I have have an interest in music related things and one of the things I can appreciate is a well written pop song. There’s a formula behind it. It’s the length of the old time 7 inch single. Somewhere around 3-4 minutes long. It contains a hook that for some reason sticks in your head. This song did. So that got me interested in discovering more S-Korean pop music. Which turned out to be an adventure in discovering a thriving music industry that is apparently quite successful in Asia and starting to get more attention further afield. Something that is known as the Korean wave. From an Icelandic viewpoint. The pop stuff looked quite similar to many of the pop groups being promoted here. What I didn’t know. Until I started reading the Grand Narrative. Was that S-Korean society is quite different from ours. For one thing it’s based on the Confucian societal ideal. Which is quite different from ours. There’s also a disparity in the status of the sexes. Something we here find a bit strange. But the one similarity I found striking. There’s a strong streak in S-Korean society about keeping it homogenous. A feeling of cultural identity that apparently leads people there to respond to foreigners comments and criticism of S-Korean society by saying that they don’t understand what’s special about S-Korea. Which reminds me of our viewpoint. That Iceland is in some way unique. In my view there’s actually a very strong streak of xenophobia and racism here. A sense that seems to be shared by a large part of the Icelandic population. That evil foreigners are plotting to exploit us. Which to me seems somewhat farfetched. So with that in mind, what made S-Korean popular music interesting is that it didn’t seem that different from what I’d seen before from artist in N-America or Europe.
It wasn’t until I started reading The Grand Narrative that I realized that actually there’s quite a bit more to it. As I mentioned before the status of the genders is quite different from what we take for granted here. The rise of the Korean girls groups, of which there are now quite a few popular examples. Might actually be a reflection of a change in the gender roles within Korean society. That these gender roles would be best described as traditional might be an understatement. For example the wage disparity between men and women in S-Korea is the highest in all of the OECD countries and on average women in S-Korea only earn 60% of what men do. That there are quite strict societal norms concerning the relations between the sexes, which result in women being ill informed about family planning and women having to suffer all sorts of inequalities in the workplace. That S-Korea has one of the lowest birthrates around and that due to the emphasis on outward appearance it’s common for most of these pop group members to have undergone some sort of plastic surgery. That while some of these groups use strong sexual under (and over) tones in their visual imagery, this is not a subject that Korean males feel comfortable about discussing. The author of The Grand Narrative has speculated on what level those involved in these pop groups are actually aware of how their image is being used for marketing purposes. Because, and I find this interesting, there’s a fine line between empowerment and exploitation when it comes to pop groups. It seems like these groups may represent the vanguard of a growing female empowerment in S-Korea. But it could just as well be argued that the women who form these groups are simply being exploited. This would get far to long if I get into that discussion and The Grand Narrative does a far better analysis. So if you find this interesting I would head over there and read more.
17 júní 2010
World Cup Fever
We're in the grips of World Cup fever here right now. Which might seem a tad strange. As Iceland doesn't even have a team playing in South Africa. Not that there's a chance we'll ever field a team in the World Cup. After all we're in Europe. I've always found our participation in global sports events somewhat. Interesting.
The Icelandic Olympic motto is "It's more important to participate, than to win" - sort of tells you all you need to know about our sports capabilities. Still, we managed to win a medal in a team sport in Beijing. You might say that it was one of the few things we've had to cheer about these last couple of years. But when it comes to football. We don't have much of a chance. Not at least as far as our mens team is concerned. Our women are doing fairly well. But being in the European league it's hardly likely we'll ever see our team advance. Having seen them playing, I'm not optimistic it's going to happen in my lifetime.
Now this doesn't diminish our interest in the South African event though.
There's been massive advertising campaigns here. There are World Cup related offers. On everything from TV's to fast food. There are dedicated shows on TV which analyze every game. Down into the minute details. Live broadcasts of the games. I've even discovered how I can watch it all live online. But since we don't have a team playing. We can just pick our own favorite from all the teams that are playing. We always like it if one of our Nordic friends are playing. This year we only have the Danish team in the competition. So we certainly hope to see them advance. For me it was more a matter of picking a team at random. So I decided to go with South Korea.
Not that I really knew much about the South Korean team. It's just that I've been reading a really interesting blog about South Korea these last few weeks. The Grand Narrative. I'll write more about it and a few other blogs I've been reading these last few months later. But it seems like in this World Cup the lesser known teams are the ones that are surprising the commentators. Not that I pretend to be a football expert. But the fun thing about these big global events. Is to get into the spirit. To allow yourself to be swept up in the euphoria of the event. So I'm enjoying the event. That's the whole point isn't it?
The Icelandic Olympic motto is "It's more important to participate, than to win" - sort of tells you all you need to know about our sports capabilities. Still, we managed to win a medal in a team sport in Beijing. You might say that it was one of the few things we've had to cheer about these last couple of years. But when it comes to football. We don't have much of a chance. Not at least as far as our mens team is concerned. Our women are doing fairly well. But being in the European league it's hardly likely we'll ever see our team advance. Having seen them playing, I'm not optimistic it's going to happen in my lifetime.
Now this doesn't diminish our interest in the South African event though.
There's been massive advertising campaigns here. There are World Cup related offers. On everything from TV's to fast food. There are dedicated shows on TV which analyze every game. Down into the minute details. Live broadcasts of the games. I've even discovered how I can watch it all live online. But since we don't have a team playing. We can just pick our own favorite from all the teams that are playing. We always like it if one of our Nordic friends are playing. This year we only have the Danish team in the competition. So we certainly hope to see them advance. For me it was more a matter of picking a team at random. So I decided to go with South Korea.
Not that I really knew much about the South Korean team. It's just that I've been reading a really interesting blog about South Korea these last few weeks. The Grand Narrative. I'll write more about it and a few other blogs I've been reading these last few months later. But it seems like in this World Cup the lesser known teams are the ones that are surprising the commentators. Not that I pretend to be a football expert. But the fun thing about these big global events. Is to get into the spirit. To allow yourself to be swept up in the euphoria of the event. So I'm enjoying the event. That's the whole point isn't it?
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