We would like to have paper theme sessions, with people invited to discuss particular themes. Tomorrowland and Mis-managing the Global Environment. On a slightly different note, I have seen the IABD call for papers. If Vegas was the playground for gamblers and constituted a site of spectacle, to people outside the US, Florida has to be the 'space' for play. I would like to explore the notion of play and in particular the realm of play as simply another level of reality neither serious nor non-serious.
Globalization yields contradictory results.
One s own domestic life can be turned into a phantasy, one s living room can become a theme-park. The latter has not yet come up with the urban equivalent of the Unrepresented Nations and People s Organization, and city governance is slow in shaping up. On yet another, third hand, management of transparent inequalities requires a radical break with the current cross-cultural techniques for dealing with the expats efficiency. It has to be tuned to the flows, mobilities and new technologies of togetherness. Higher education can play a role, provided it escapes the traps of Disneylandized edutainment.