Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American SouthCelebrated as the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll, Memphis, Tennessee, is where Elvis Presley, B. B. King, Johnny Cash, and other musical legends got their starts. It is also a place of conflict and tragedy--the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination--and a city typically marginalized by scholars and underestimated by its own residents. Using this iconic southern city as a case study, Wanda Rushing explores the significance of place in a globalizing age. Challenging the view that globalization renders place generic or insignificant, Rushing argues that cultural and economic distinctiveness persists in part because of global processes, not in spite of them. Rushing weaves her analysis into stories about the history and global impact of blues music, the social and racial complexities of Cotton Carnival, and the global rise of FedEx, headquartered in Memphis. She portrays Memphis as a site of cultural creativity and global industry--a city whose traditions, complex past, and specific character have had an influence on culture worldwide. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 54
Page 1
... Memphis, a remarkable southern place, and explain its global significance. Memphis is known in some circles as the ''home of the blues'' and ''the birthplace of rock and roll.'' The title of Robert Gordon''s book about Memphis music, It ...
... Memphis, a remarkable southern place, and explain its global significance. Memphis is known in some circles as the ''home of the blues'' and ''the birthplace of rock and roll.'' The title of Robert Gordon''s book about Memphis music, It ...
Page 2
... Memphis. Why would anyone value Memphis music? For years, Memphians and respected experts, such as University of North Carolina sociologist Howard Odum, warned about the dangers of the blues. Odum expressed shock at the impoverished ...
... Memphis. Why would anyone value Memphis music? For years, Memphians and respected experts, such as University of North Carolina sociologist Howard Odum, warned about the dangers of the blues. Odum expressed shock at the impoverished ...
Page 3
... Music and Stax Music Academy now stand at the corner of College and McLemore, where Stax Records operated from 1960 to 1975, and the old Capitol Theatre building that housed it was razed. Today, the Stax Music Academy sponsors after ...
... Music and Stax Music Academy now stand at the corner of College and McLemore, where Stax Records operated from 1960 to 1975, and the old Capitol Theatre building that housed it was razed. Today, the Stax Music Academy sponsors after ...
Page 9
... Memphis became an ''iconic'' American place in the mid-twentieth century because of the city's identification with an innovative popular music that crossed racial divisions. But the city su√ered setbacks in its economic and political ...
... Memphis became an ''iconic'' American place in the mid-twentieth century because of the city's identification with an innovative popular music that crossed racial divisions. But the city su√ered setbacks in its economic and political ...
Page 21
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
Memphis and the Paradoxes of Identity | 34 |
Memphis and the Paradoxes of Power | 64 |
Memphis and the Paradoxes of Development | 84 |
Memphis and the Paradoxes of Innovation | 120 |
Memphis and the Paradoxes of Tradition | 153 |
Continuity and Discontinuity | 187 |
Notes | 199 |
Bibliography | 219 |
Index | 241 |
Other editions - View all
Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South Wanda Rushing Limited preview - 2009 |
Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South Wanda Rushing No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
a√ect African American associated Beale Street blues capital Carnival Memphis Children’s city o≈cials city of Memphis city’s civic Civil Rights Museum commemoration Commission Cotton Carnival Cotton Maker’s Jubilee create cultural innovation di√erent disruptions e√orts economic development elites Elvis Presley FedEx Forum festival Forrest Park gender global flows Graceland historical Ibid identity industry interstate Jobs Conference Jude Kemet Jubilee King’s krewe labor Lorraine Motel memory Memphians Memphis music ment million neighborhood o√er o≈ce organization Overton Park paradoxes participation past Peabody Hotel phis place building plans political production of locality public spaces racial region residents rituals riverfront Rufus Thomas rural segregated Shelby County Shelby Farms Shelby Farms Park social status Stax Stax Records su√ered symbolic Tennessee tion tourists tradition twenty-first-century University of Memphis urban landscape urban renewal Venson women workers yellow fever