162 pages, 5 x 8
3 color images, 17 B-W images, and 6 tables images
Paperback
Release Date:12 Aug 2025
ISBN:9780813593449
Hardcover
Release Date:12 Aug 2025
ISBN:9780813593456
Fantasies of Hong Kong Disneyland
Attempted Indigenizations of Space, Labor, and Consumption
By Jenny Banh
Rutgers University Press
Fantasies of Hong Kong Disneyland: Attempted Indigenizations of Space, Labor, and Consumption examines the attempt to transplant Disney's "happiest place on earth" ethos to Hong Kong—with unhappy results. Focusing on the attempted localization / indigenization of this idea in a globalized transnational park, the book delves into the three-way dynamics of an American culture-corporation's intentions, Hong Kong, China's government investment and Hong Konger audience, and the Hong Kong Chinese locale. The triple actors introduce an especially complex case as two of the world's most power entities, the nominally Communist state of China and corporate behemoth Disney, come together for a project in the third space of Hong Kong. The situation poses special challenges for Disney's efforts to manage space, labor, and consumption to achieve local adaptation and business success.
JENNY BANH is an associate professor of Asian American studies and anthropology at California State University, Fresno. She is the coeditor of Anthropology of Los Angeles: Place and Agency in an Urban Setting and American Chinese Restaurants: Society, Culture and Consumption.
List of Illustrations
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Indigenizing Consumption: Culture Wars
2. Indigenizing Labor: Cultural Imperialism
3. Spatial Indigenization: Heterotopia
4. Indigenous Competitor: Ocean Park
Epilogue
Postscript
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Indigenizing Consumption: Culture Wars
2. Indigenizing Labor: Cultural Imperialism
3. Spatial Indigenization: Heterotopia
4. Indigenous Competitor: Ocean Park
Epilogue
Postscript
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index