‘Throw Word’: Graffiti, Space and Power in Kingston, Jamaica

NOTES

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• Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1991). Foucault, de Certeau and Lefebre all implicitly imbue the state with more power than it may be able to exert in contemporary neoliberal cities. Commercial powers, and particularly the international conglomerates that have in some cases become largely impervious to government dictates, perhaps exert more influence on everyday urban life and spaces than do official state powers. It remains to be explored whether the same subaltern ‘tactics’ that subverted state force can do the same to commercial powers.
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• The graffiti marked on the map represent the results of extensive observation in the period 2007–2009; however, they are not exhaustive. In addition to these observations, this article draws on long-term ethnographic research by the first author on urban space and social stratification in Kingston.
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