Hadiel Elsayed writes:
1. How were the Fairs/Expositions planned and executed?
2. What was the goal of the Fairs/Expositions?
3. How did eugenicists and anthropologists work together to apply hierarchical ideas about race and culture?
4. How does Robert Rydell use science and racism to make his point?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #2 (What were the goals of the fairs/expositions?") exemplifies the plurality of the fairs/expositions. The people that planend these events sought to boost the economic development of the cities and regions in which the fairs and explositions were held in addition to increasing the chances for the material growth of the country. Fairs also gave manufacturing and commercial interests with opportunities to promote mass consumption of their products (85). It also seemed as if the fairs were an opportunity for social revival due to times of class warfare and depression: "The cohesive explanatory blueprint of social experience is what the sponsors of the fairs offered to millions of fairgoers in the wake of the industrial depressions..." (85). The fairs were also a social venue in which dominant members of society could assert their hegemony over others in the society, these others included non-whites. Fairs also strengthened the moral authority and religion of America, more specifically its religion of sovereignty.
ReplyDelete