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Proquest Dissertations "A REVOLUTION WE CREATE DAILY": FREEGAN ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALIST CONSUMPTION IN NEW YORK CITY BY Kelly Ernst Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy In Anthropology Chair: Dr. David Vine Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences ~ ~ ?J-, [\)\~ Date 2010 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY UBAARV q :5 f; b UMI Number: 3406836 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3406836 Copyright 201 O by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Pro uesr --- --- ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ©COPYRIGHT by Kelly Ernst 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED To Mom and Dad. You have sacrificed for me, celebrated with me, maybe not always agreed with me, but you have always, always supported me. "A REVOLUTION WE CREATE DAILY": FREEGAN ALTERNATIVES TO CAPIT AUST CONSUMPTION IN NEW YORK CITY BY Kelly Ernst ABSTRACT New York City freegans are a group of critical consumption activists dedicated to limiting their impact on the environment, consumption of resources, and participation in what they argue is an exploitive capitalist economy. Perhaps best known for their "trash tours" of garbage in the city's streets and dumpsters, freegans participated in a variety of actions to highlight waste, create community and reclaim urban space. Participants in freeganism include high school teachers, corporate lawyers turned bike maintenance workers, squatters, college students, freelance employees, bike messengers, and retirees. Alternately defined as an anti-globalization, global justice or primitivist movement, the goals of freeganism often appear inconsonant with their tactics. Is freeganism an example of a postmodern movement responding to changes in contemporary organizing and social concerns, or is it a symptom of the society of spectacle they are critiquing? The use of dumpster diving as the primary recruitment tool for anti-capitalist organizing was a way to display excessive waste while simultaneously displaying freeganism as a solution but did this tactic obscure or enhance their message? 11 Combining analysis of my participation in the freegan movement, interviews with freegans and an historical analysis of critical consumption movements in the United States, I learned about the complexities and contradictions freegans face in their use of radical democratic strategies to affect social, economic and political change. Freeganism is a reaction to and a product of a postmodern society of spectacle and capitalist hegemony and freegans' experiences illuminate the problems and solutions faced by other contemporary direct action movements. Using direct action theory as a starting point, this dissertation uses the stories and experiences of particular freegans along with descriptions of their various tactics to better understand how contemporary activists organize and what obstacles they are working to overcome. Freegans imagine a world that is free of the market rhetoric and capitalist hegemony and though they face many obstacles, they are in the process of discovering what it takes to create a postmodern consumer revolution. 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am incredibly lucky to have had the support and guidance of so many amazing people. First, I want to thank the freegans for accepting me and my notebook into their group. Thank you all for showing me everyday how much commitment, hard work and hope it takes to be an activist. Particularly, Janet, Cindy, Nora, Michael and Adam-you are inspirations to me and so many others. I woul.d like to sincerely thank Paul Lusty for his support, kindness and letting me know that I always had a place to come back to. I can never thank you enough for all that you've done for me or express how much the last eight years at Lucky has meant. I'd also like to thank Tony T. and the Pug, for helping my transition back to D.C. and for promising to put my dissertation up on the shelf. Thank you to the AU Dissertation Writing Group for helping me edit and organize my thoughts. Thank you, Jodi, for inspiring me to keep working and never questioning that I would. And to Becca-you have been incredibly supportive in ways too numerous to list. You were calming when I was stressed and you offered honest and constructive critique when I needed it most. You are an amazing friend, a brilliant academic and I hope you know how much you mean to me. Thank you to my family for their constant love and support. Mom and Dad, you continue to teach and guide me and I am so proud to be your daughter. And Brian, I have lV always and will always look up to you. You inspired me to trust myself because I trust you. My committee, Dr. Brett Williams, Dr. Sabiyha Prince and Dr. David Vine, were incredible throughout this process. Thank you for your invaluable comments, edits and encouragement. You challenged me and supported me and I truly could not have asked for a better group of people to guide me. I am particularly indebted to and awed by Brett Williams. The commitment, care and thoughtfulness you give to your students, colleagues and our work is beyond compare. I am humbled and inspired by your integrity and am forever grateful to you. You set an example of the kind of person I am working to be. And finally, I'd like to thank Jeff Friedman. Everything I think of to way, to express how much you mean to me and how grateful I am for your support and love through the craziness of this process, just doesn't do justice to how much I love you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................... iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................... v Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 2. JANET'S STORY: "I'VE BEEN FREEGAN BEFORE I KNEW THE WORD" ............................................................... 27 3. FEASTING AT CINDY'S: CRITICAL COMMUNITIES AND CONSUMPTION MOVEMENTS .................................................. 55 4. SOLIDARITY AND THE CITY: "ONE NO, MANY YESES" ............... 81 5. RACE AND REPRESENTATION: "YOU CAN'T INVITE PEOPLE TO DINNER AFTER HAVING RUN OVER THEIRLEGS" ................... 108 6. DEALING WITH DISSENT: DIFFICULTIES REACHING CONSENSUS ........................................................................ 139 7. CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................. 184 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Rescued Paper ............................................................................... 30 2. Organic Industry Structure: Acquisitions by the Top 30 Food Processors in North America ..................................... .43 3. Freegans Sit Down to Dinner ............................................................. 71 4. Rescued Food .................................................................................. 75 5. Prepared Food at a Feast .................................................................. 75 6. Freegan Calendar ........................................................................... 85 7. Freegan Bike ................................................................................ 87 8. Media at a Feast ........................................................................... 122 9. Really Really Free Market Sign ......................................................... 146 10. The Market at St. Marks ................................................................. 147 11. Bikes and Bites ............................................................................ 147 12. Checking Out the Goods ................................................................. 148 13. Education and Outreach ................................................................. 148 Vll CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4th, 1967 "What is freeganism?" Adam Weissman1 looked expectantly at the audience of 30 or so New York University students sitting in neon plastic chairs scattered around the room. Several were still over by the food table, stacking their plates with crackers, candy and fruit recovered from a local grocery store the previous night. Hands reached tentatively into the air. "Free? Vegan?" "Dumpster diving?" "You won't eat anything unless it's free?" "Sharing?" "Living off the fat of the land?" a guy wearing a Che Guevara hoodie leaned back in his chair and smirked. "A lifestyle where you try to not spend any money?" 1 Each freegan decided whether they wanted to use their real name, first and/or last, or pseudonyms. Versions
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