Description

Book Synopsis
In Cote d'Ivoire, appearing modern is so important for success that many young men deplete their already meager resources to project an illusion of wealth. The author argues that they engage a global hierarchy that is profoundly modern, one that values performance over authenticity - highlighting the counterfeit nature of modernity itself.

Trade Review
"The Modernity Bluff takes its place comfortably with the best writing on African youth, cities, and popular culture - Cole, De Boeck, Mbembe, Nyamanjoh, Simone, Weiss, White - and gives an utterly original angle for understanding the cultural underpinnings of the current conflict in Cote d'Ivoire. Sasha Newell knows both the contemporary and classic Africanist literatures. He also brings to bear a considerable amount of specialist theory to explain the ways the performance of 'bluff,' seemingly a kind of consumerist simulacrum, can actually create something out of nothing." (Mike McGovern, Yale University)"

The Modernity Bluff Crime Consumption and

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    A Paperback / softback by Sasha Newell

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      Book details

      Publisher The University of Chicago Press
      Published 20 June 2012
      ISBN-13 9780226575209
      978-0226575209
      ISBN-10 0226575209
      Also in:
      Consumerism Society and culture: general

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      In Cote d'Ivoire, appearing modern is so important for success that many young men deplete their already meager resources to project an illusion of wealth. The author argues that they engage a global hierarchy that is profoundly modern, one that values performance over authenticity - highlighting the counterfeit nature of modernity itself.

      Trade Review
      "The Modernity Bluff takes its place comfortably with the best writing on African youth, cities, and popular culture - Cole, De Boeck, Mbembe, Nyamanjoh, Simone, Weiss, White - and gives an utterly original angle for understanding the cultural underpinnings of the current conflict in Cote d'Ivoire. Sasha Newell knows both the contemporary and classic Africanist literatures. He also brings to bear a considerable amount of specialist theory to explain the ways the performance of 'bluff,' seemingly a kind of consumerist simulacrum, can actually create something out of nothing." (Mike McGovern, Yale University)"

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