Kara-Jane Lombard | Curtin University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Kara-Jane Lombard
Journal for Cultural Research, 2012
The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, 2017
Visual Communication Quarterly
Once described as a terrorist act (Iveson, 2010: 130), hip hop graffiti has been increasingly app... more Once described as a terrorist act (Iveson, 2010: 130), hip hop graffiti has been increasingly appropriated by commercial, art and government institutions. This article explores one aspect of its mainstreaming – the commercial – breaking with previous scholarship which has stressed the exploitative and degenerative effect of commercial culture on graffiti. It refers to creative industries literature and the scholarship of economist Tyler Cowen to demonstrate that, although commercial incorporation can change the graffiti aesthetic and exploit it, increasingly the commercialization of graffiti is a collaborative process in which graffiti writers are involved in negotiating what the final piece will look like. Thus, it is argued that although it seems that commercial incorporation of graffiti is superficial and exploitative, a variety of processes can be delineated. Furthermore, despite increased appropriation, it is evident that ambiguity continues to pervade the meanings of graffiti, indicating that this has not rendered it insignificant or meaningless.
Journal of Men's Studies
This paper invokes the categories of the masculine which have been discursively constructed in th... more This paper invokes the categories of the masculine which have been discursively constructed in the historical and social context of hip hop and graffiti culture. The production and performance of graffiti(ed) masculinities are the result of a complex mix that samples notions of class, race, violence, space, commodification, gender, resistance and violence. Graffiti culture embodies the colonizer’s ideals of a masculinity which is dangerous, aggressive and takes risks, while giving men a medium with which to tell their stories and allowing them to express their emotions. The article argues that graffiti(ed) masculinities are composed of seemingly disparate and complex components which shadow the masculine ideals of the colonizer, of hegemonic masculinity, as well as borrowing from notions of subordinate and resistive masculinities.
This article explores the governmental incorporation of hip hop graffiti. It seeks to answer the ... more This article explores the governmental incorporation of hip hop graffiti. It seeks to answer the question: how has governance in relation to graffiti changed? It employs the concept of governmentality to analyze how graffiti is problematized and controlled. Utilizing the rubric of governmentality reveals that although it appears that there is a softening of graffiti policy, this does not mean there is less governance.
Journal for Cultural Research
This article utilizes the concept of social entrepreneurship to explore one aspect of youth cultu... more This article utilizes the concept of social entrepreneurship to explore one aspect of youth cultures’ increasing incorporation into the mainstream in which youth culture participants undertake private and public sector roles simultaneously. The concept of social entrepreneurship is useful in understanding the mainstreaming of youth culture, suggesting that it does not just have value as a form of resistive expression, but can be harnessed by practitioners for both profit and socially progressive ends. Taking the subculture of hip hop as a case study, three contexts are explored – Morganics in Australia, ‘Russell Simmons: Philanthropist’ in America, and Emile ‘XY?’ Jansen of South African hip hop crew Black Noise. This investigation reveals how the concept of social entrepreneurship is inflected in local contexts, examining key differences around assets, funding, the role of government, type of social entrepreneurship, and the conditions under which it operates.
Alchemies: Community exChanges
M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
During the 1970s and 1980s skateboarding was variously construed as a children's activity, a fad,... more During the 1970s and 1980s skateboarding was variously construed as a children's activity, a fad, or underground activity. More recently there has been a trend to consider skateboarding as respectable as it is increasingly incorporated into commercial and governmental processes. Yet despite the fact that it has been so incorporated into the mainstream, the theme of resistance continues to strongly resonate with skateboarding. This article develops an account of the incorporation of skateboarding which demonstrates that purely oppositional or resistive readings of skateboarding are problematic. Such an account demonstrates that commercial incorporation is not simply a case of gentrification, corruption or exploitation as some instances of incorporation are supported and resistance has a constitutive role in shaping incorporation. Similarly, governmental programs, strategies and technologies arise out of a complex field of contestation in which resistance does not operate outside of rule but is involved in actively shaping and altering the governmental incorporation of skateboarding.
Recent Advances in Security Technology
There is growing evidence that extremists are using youth culture and new media to recruit, commu... more There is growing evidence that extremists are using youth culture and new media to recruit, communicate their views and incite violence. In 2001 Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin wrote: “sociologists have shown that youth correlates with violent behaviour... [governments] will have to manage the discontent of a cohort of unemployable, passionate young men. It is difficult to predict how this discontent will be expressed” (13-14). One of the ways in which this discontent is currently being expressed is though videos posted to websites like YouTube, video games, and heavy metal and rap music. This paper discusses the ways in which the internet and the subculture of hip hop are allowing those with radical views to communicate and recruit. The potential of youth culture and new media as ‘bridging mechanisms’ between youth and extremist suggests the Australian government should take this into consideration when designing and reviewing counter terrorism approaches.
Journal for Cultural Research, 2012
The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, 2017
Visual Communication Quarterly
Once described as a terrorist act (Iveson, 2010: 130), hip hop graffiti has been increasingly app... more Once described as a terrorist act (Iveson, 2010: 130), hip hop graffiti has been increasingly appropriated by commercial, art and government institutions. This article explores one aspect of its mainstreaming – the commercial – breaking with previous scholarship which has stressed the exploitative and degenerative effect of commercial culture on graffiti. It refers to creative industries literature and the scholarship of economist Tyler Cowen to demonstrate that, although commercial incorporation can change the graffiti aesthetic and exploit it, increasingly the commercialization of graffiti is a collaborative process in which graffiti writers are involved in negotiating what the final piece will look like. Thus, it is argued that although it seems that commercial incorporation of graffiti is superficial and exploitative, a variety of processes can be delineated. Furthermore, despite increased appropriation, it is evident that ambiguity continues to pervade the meanings of graffiti, indicating that this has not rendered it insignificant or meaningless.
Journal of Men's Studies
This paper invokes the categories of the masculine which have been discursively constructed in th... more This paper invokes the categories of the masculine which have been discursively constructed in the historical and social context of hip hop and graffiti culture. The production and performance of graffiti(ed) masculinities are the result of a complex mix that samples notions of class, race, violence, space, commodification, gender, resistance and violence. Graffiti culture embodies the colonizer’s ideals of a masculinity which is dangerous, aggressive and takes risks, while giving men a medium with which to tell their stories and allowing them to express their emotions. The article argues that graffiti(ed) masculinities are composed of seemingly disparate and complex components which shadow the masculine ideals of the colonizer, of hegemonic masculinity, as well as borrowing from notions of subordinate and resistive masculinities.
This article explores the governmental incorporation of hip hop graffiti. It seeks to answer the ... more This article explores the governmental incorporation of hip hop graffiti. It seeks to answer the question: how has governance in relation to graffiti changed? It employs the concept of governmentality to analyze how graffiti is problematized and controlled. Utilizing the rubric of governmentality reveals that although it appears that there is a softening of graffiti policy, this does not mean there is less governance.
Journal for Cultural Research
This article utilizes the concept of social entrepreneurship to explore one aspect of youth cultu... more This article utilizes the concept of social entrepreneurship to explore one aspect of youth cultures’ increasing incorporation into the mainstream in which youth culture participants undertake private and public sector roles simultaneously. The concept of social entrepreneurship is useful in understanding the mainstreaming of youth culture, suggesting that it does not just have value as a form of resistive expression, but can be harnessed by practitioners for both profit and socially progressive ends. Taking the subculture of hip hop as a case study, three contexts are explored – Morganics in Australia, ‘Russell Simmons: Philanthropist’ in America, and Emile ‘XY?’ Jansen of South African hip hop crew Black Noise. This investigation reveals how the concept of social entrepreneurship is inflected in local contexts, examining key differences around assets, funding, the role of government, type of social entrepreneurship, and the conditions under which it operates.
Alchemies: Community exChanges
M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
During the 1970s and 1980s skateboarding was variously construed as a children's activity, a fad,... more During the 1970s and 1980s skateboarding was variously construed as a children's activity, a fad, or underground activity. More recently there has been a trend to consider skateboarding as respectable as it is increasingly incorporated into commercial and governmental processes. Yet despite the fact that it has been so incorporated into the mainstream, the theme of resistance continues to strongly resonate with skateboarding. This article develops an account of the incorporation of skateboarding which demonstrates that purely oppositional or resistive readings of skateboarding are problematic. Such an account demonstrates that commercial incorporation is not simply a case of gentrification, corruption or exploitation as some instances of incorporation are supported and resistance has a constitutive role in shaping incorporation. Similarly, governmental programs, strategies and technologies arise out of a complex field of contestation in which resistance does not operate outside of rule but is involved in actively shaping and altering the governmental incorporation of skateboarding.
Recent Advances in Security Technology
There is growing evidence that extremists are using youth culture and new media to recruit, commu... more There is growing evidence that extremists are using youth culture and new media to recruit, communicate their views and incite violence. In 2001 Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin wrote: “sociologists have shown that youth correlates with violent behaviour... [governments] will have to manage the discontent of a cohort of unemployable, passionate young men. It is difficult to predict how this discontent will be expressed” (13-14). One of the ways in which this discontent is currently being expressed is though videos posted to websites like YouTube, video games, and heavy metal and rap music. This paper discusses the ways in which the internet and the subculture of hip hop are allowing those with radical views to communicate and recruit. The potential of youth culture and new media as ‘bridging mechanisms’ between youth and extremist suggests the Australian government should take this into consideration when designing and reviewing counter terrorism approaches.