Can You Borrow an Atmosphere? Cultural Extractivism and the Urban Night
Giacomo Bottà
University of Turku
Atmosphere is an elusive and slippery concept, defined between the biological and the symbolic, the material and the evanescent, subjectivity and objectification. In the context of night studies, it has been often used to refer to the unique and irreplicable features a scene, a place and an event possess.
In this talk, I refer to cultural extractivism as the main force behind the valorisation, financialisation and eventual exploitation of night atmospheres. But how does this work?
Drawing on insights from cultural studies, sociology and urban studies, I try to achieve a nuanced comprehension of music/night scenes’ vulnerability in the context of contemporary urbanisation of the interplay between live music, the urban night, capitalist exploitation and, possibly, resistance.
ICNS.LX 