Week 6

Ok, I know, I am late again for blogging, sorry about that. I really liked the discussion in class about the different sides of localism. The articles we read for this week mentioned some important examples for localism and also the clip "The Dark Side of the North Shore" we watched in class was very interesting. It showed how surfing and the preservation of a "territory" but also of a culture, led to violence in the end. And I guess it is a good way to look at such events from two sides: Of course it is not the right way to engage in violence, while just wanting to surf, but still there are points that justify a policy of "protecting the beach." 

While I really cannot contribute a lot to the topic of surfing localism from my own experience, the discussion of this phenomenon really reminded me of the situation in my hometown Berlin (as I already mentioned in class). Our city is quite proud of its' vital music and nightlife scene, which developed steadily along with the evolution of electronic music production. But ever since the UK DJ Mag named the city's very own techno-club "Berghain" the "best club in the world," Berlin has become a destination for pilgrimage of party people from all over the world. While this tourism is on the first sight of course good for the city (and personally I have to say that I met numerous of really nice people from a lot of countries in Berlin), there are still negative effects, which mostly affect the locals: The party tourists often come to Berlin only from Friday to Monday, to party the whole weekend (a lot of clubs in Berlin do not really close from Thursday to Monday) and they are leaving their mark upon the city behind. A lot of flats in the inner city are owned by foreigners only using them for the weekend, the rents in this area are increasing drastically, and the locals have to move out of town slowly. The clubs are nowadays flooded with people, because it has become main part of Berlin's tourism strategy to promote them, and it is getting harder and harder to get in, because there is just not enough space for all those people. The tourists are also pushing Berlin's quite liberal drug laws to the edge, which calls politicians now to encourage oversight over the club scene, which was basically tolerated as it was by the police before.

This is why the attitude towards tourists in the city is getting worse since years. A lot of young Berliners are sceptical about the rush of foreigners (also from other parts of Germany) coming to their city. They appear unfriendly when confronted with stereotypical tourists and engage in campaigns to "keep Berlin real." This does not mean that there is a violent attitude towards tourists in town, because basically everybody knows that the cultural diversity is what makes Berlin so special. But there is definitely a common notion of trying to safe the club scene from bad influences and from becoming too international and commercialized.

By advocating this kind of localism the Berlin people often have funny ideas of promoting their sense of keeping their own identity, status and "territory." I attached some pictures of Berlin localist "activism" that represent the idea of keeping the city unique. 

The text says "You played David Guetta at your house-party, you asshole!" If you really want to out yourself in Berlin, that you have no idea of European electronic music, just play a tune by David Guetta. They are gonna give you a hard time :D

Some smart students turned Kreuzberg into a fashion object. It's one district of Berlin that is especially considered to be fresh and hip, because it was kind of dangerous in the 90s (and although tourists claim it still is - it is not. Noone can afford to live there anymore.) They founded the label Muschi Kreuzberg (translated Pussy Kreuzberg), mocking the fear of some foreigners to visit this part of town. The print on the picture says something (it's actually a wordplay) best translated as "I come from Pussy you Kreuzberg!"

Ok now I basically talked one complete blog post about something that is not really related to the course at all. But the concept of localism really related me of the situation I knew from my hometown, and I wanted to share the funny aspects of this experience with you.