An Oceanic Feeling

Globalisation and the politics of subaltern resistance in maritime districts.

Workshop conducted by The Green Parrot and Fundació Antoni Tàpies. Programme developed as part of the 4Cs European Project: From Conflict to Conviviality through Creativity and Culture and the Allan Sekula. Collective Sisyphus exhibition.

Opaque and hidden from perception, the transformations of the maritime economy are most visible in districts by the sea. The vertiginous changes experienced by areas such as the Barceloneta speak of a new power emerging from the sea. One the most obvious consequences is the disappearance of a productive model linked to the harbor and its traditional activities. Its substitution by a service economy dictated by the tourist industry unleashes new conflicts. Against this, subordinate forms of resistance run the risk of being seen as excessively romantic. And yet they represent the most effective critique of the ill-fated restructuring of a coastal area that is being increasingly exploited.