This week we bring you another panel in our new format! This time, we’re diving into the conflict between Amazon and its workers in Alabama trying to form a union. Clair raises the topic of “corporate sassiness” and how we have started to attribute personalities and personhood to the social media presences of these gigantic companies. What do you think about companies “clapping back” at people on their social media platforms? Does it play a role in how you consume certain products?
Next, Alex shares his recent experience at a friend’s wedding and how it relates to the ideas of tradition and culture. He raises the idea that some traditions can keep replicating themselves, even if the original institution isn’t as prevalent anymore and what this means for people living in the modern era. What do you think about traditions? How do you think future generations will see some of the traditions we adhere to?
Links and Citations
Forbes Article Alex Quotes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2021/03/28/amazon-tweets-attacks-to-senators-and-journalists-ahead-of-union-vote/?sh=51d4ac874767
Check out Alex’s interview with Susan Ellison here:
Quotes
“Big corporations nowadays tend to embody a personality that usually resonates with their customers”
“I think we are demanding this of corporations these days, we kind of expect brands to be people”
“To imagine them as not being part of our daily lives, is kind of, in some ways inconceivable”
“People want to associate companies with an identity or corporations with an identifiable kind of personage”
“These traditions replicate themselves, even when perhaps the original institution is no longer present”
“I think that in some ways, every generation recreates a culture right?”
“But if there is purpose to tradition, isn’t it to be kind of…binding?”
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This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.
Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com
Shownotes by Matthew Phung
Podcast edited by Simon Theobald and Matthew Phung
Feature Image: “Amazon Prime Delivery Trucks” by Todd Van Hoosaer (2018)
https://flic.kr/p/2agS6oQ
