Political Graffiti in Critical Times: The Aesthetics of Street Politics

by Ricardo Campos (Editor), Yiannis Zaimakis (Editor), Andrea Pavoni (Editor)

Overview

Whether aesthetically or politically inspired, graffiti is among the oldest forms of expression in human history, one that becomes especially significant during periods of social and political upheaval. With a particular focus on the demographic, ecological, and economic crises of today, this volume provides a wide-ranging exploration of urban space and visual protest. Assembling case studies that cover topics such as gentrification in Cyprus, the convulsions of post-independence East Timor, and opposition to Donald Trump in the American capital, it reveals the diverse ways in which street artists challenge existing social orders and reimagine urban landscapes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781805397281
Publisher:	Berghahn Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/01/2024
Series:	Protest, Culture & Society , #28
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Ricardo Campos is a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences (CICSNova, Nova FCSH), Portugal. His books include Transglobal Sounds: Music, Identity and Migrant Descendants.

Yiannis Zaimakis is Professor of Sociology of Culture and Local Societies and Director of the Social Analysis and Applied Social Research Laboratory at the University of Crete.

Andrea Pavoni is a research fellow at DINAMIA'CET (centre for socioeconomic and territorial studies), UniversityInstitute of Lisbon, and associate editor at Lo Squaderno: Explorations in Space and Society.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction: Political Graffiti in Critical Times
Andrea Pavoni, Yannis Zaimakis and Ricardo Campos

PART I: STREET ACTIVISM AND VISUAL PROTEST IN CONTEMPORARY CITIES

Chapter 1. A Periegesis through the Greek Crisis in Five Graffiti Acts: Cartographic and Photographic Dialogues
Konstantinos Avramidis and Myrto Tsilimpounidi

Chapter 2. 'Whatever I Can Do to Put Those People in Jail': Crisis Turns Spanish Artists to Street Activism
Jonna Tolonen

Chapter 3. Walls of Resistance in Critical Times: A Reflection on Political Graffiti and Visual Protest in Southern Europe and Latin America
Yiannis Zaimakis and Leonidas Oikonomakis

Chapter 4. Between the Workshop and the Streets: Graphic Activism and the Student Movement in Chile (2008–2018)
Javiera Manzi, Matías Marambio, Isidro Parraguez, María Yaksic

Chapter 5. Anti-Trump Graffiti and Street Art: A Case Study of Washington, DC
Jeffrey Ian Ross

Chapter 6. Vandalising the Commons
Andrea Pavoni

PART II: SOCIO-CULTURAL DIVISIONS AND ANTI-GENTRIFICATION PROTESTS

Chapter 7. Berlin Political Crises, Street Art and Graffiti from 1945 to 2019
Betty A. Dobratz and Lisa K. Waldner

Chapter 8. Writing in a City in Crisis: Stencil Graffiti in the Old Town of Nicosia
Pafsanias Karathanasis

Chapter 9. Le Charme Discret de L’Anomie: Contested Spaces and Surfaces in Via Zamboni, Bologna
Anna Giulia Della Puppa

PART III: POLITICAL TURMOIL AND REGIME TRANSFORMATION

Chapter 10. ‘25th April Always, Fascism Never Again’: The Post-revolution Murals in Portugal
Cláudia Madeira, Cristina Pratas Cruzeiro and Ricardo Campos

Chapter 11. Street Art in East Timor: Creative (Re)Constructions of Identity in Times of Crisis
Catherine C. Arthur

Chapter 12. Reigniting the Revolution: An Interview with Abu Malek Al-Shami
Hend Alawadhi and Julia Tulke

Afterword: A Public Crisis / A Crisis of Publicness: Political Graffiti in the Post-coronavirus Age
Rafael Schacter

Index

Editorial Reviews

“This compelling, timely volume makes a significant contribution to the growing body of scholarship on graffiti and wall art and does so in a way that puts such scholarship in critical conversation with geography, urban studies, sociology, political theory, and social movements research. An engaging and important book—highly recommended.” • Jeff Ferrell, author of Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality.

“An interesting contextualization of street art and graffiti. It nicely frames ‘crisis’ as a condition that creates space for the production of street art and graffiti and provides motivation for their production but can also bring about a more authoritarian reaction. The conceptual framing is strong, and the diversity of topics is a primary contribution to that strength.” • Tyson Mitman, York St John University

From the Publisher