As the recall Walker petitioners gather to collect signatures around Wisconsin, several issues have been brought to light, aside from the ones that have prompted the recall per se. These issues have to do mainly with where is it possible to plant oneself to collect signatures in public areas. It has been established that, in general, petitioning on a sidewalk, public library entrance, etc, is OK as long as nobody is blocking or impeding traffic.
But there also comes the issue of people taking issue with “things” becoming politicized, as if finding recall volunteers in the neighborhood is some kind of nuisance around the holidays.
Well, “things” are politicized to some degree or another, and more often than not, with a good dose of ideology.
Maybe you cannot collect signatures inside a store, for it is a private space. Fair enough.
But…do we check our politics at the door? Do we stop to think if the merchandise comes from sweatshops? Do they sell high quality products at that store? If not, what’s the target demographic…and why?
Likewise, I may happen to be shopping among friends and I may happen to make a “leftist” “feminist” “tree-hugging” comment, which may sound ideological to some and therefore, something unwanted during a shopping spree. Then again, do we stop to consider the politics and the ideology behind a retailer’s marketing campaign that plays on gender, social and/or racial stereotypes?
I do, because to me–call me postmodern or something like that–it’s easy to see the craft in a hyper-commercialized/stereotyped society.
The craft is pretty obvious, so are the politics in the making.
At times, I’ve been told that I bring those “theories” to my interpretation.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. And being told so already shows the politics and ideologies that envelop such a comment, whether the one who utters it is aware of them or not.
So, while for some it may be annoying to find recall volunteers by their favorite stores because they see it as a way of politicizing the area, it is puzzling that they haven’t realized that their shopping–from what they can and cannot buy to when to buy it–is already immersed in ideology, an ideology so conspicuous that could be mistaken as the “natural” way of “things.”