The Segregation of Social Desire
"Religion" and Disney World
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8201417 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Arnal (0009-0002-0813-2342, New York University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2001-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jaarel/69.1.1 |
| OpenAlex | W2166471215 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
This article, inspired by the decision to hold the 1998 American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting on the Disney World grounds, attempts to compare the construction of “fantasy” in Disney-related phenomena with the generation of “religion” as a category, arguing that both serve the liberal political agenda of modernity: they create special enclosures that serve to segregate positive ends-oriented behavior, to minimize the social impact of subjectively determined human goals and desires. The essay goes on to argue that the conditions of post-modernity, which have altered some key modern values, have impacted the appropriation of fantasy and the political utility of religion simultaneously, largely by commodifying and festishizing both. These postmodern alterations, however, do not in the end allow for any more efficacious expression of desire at the social level than did modernity.
Aesthetics · Art · Sociology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Gender Studies · Globalization and Cultural Identity · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology
The fall from Eden, critical theory, and The Teletubbies
On the Origin of the ‘Private Sphere’
Vivir islámicamente en Colombia
Historicizing ‘Religion’ and ‘the Secular’
Defining the dream
To Dream Differently
The irreducible otherness of desi and desire in Singapore’s gurdwaras
Black holes, theory and the study of religion
Exploring Disney's Worlds Through Religious Studies
The ideology of closure and the problem with the insider/ outsider problem in the study of religion
Guns, Thorns, and Zeal
| Citations per year | 0.44 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2001 - 2024 (24) |
| Highly cited | No |