Products!!!
One idea pertaining to
citizenship that has started to brew within me is the idea of being a
participator within the global economy. Usually when one goes to a candy store,
they will see the basic products: Gummi Bears, M&Ms, Turtles, Sour Patch
Kids, etc. While my store does hold these products, its investments into
international products, i.e. products from overseas give it a sense of
uniqueness, and I find it adds a sense of place to my store, too. International
companies such as Ferrero, Cadbury, Kookaburra, and many more ship products to
our store that normally is unlikely to find in other confectionary businesses.
Salvesen refers to a concept of
“homogenization of the built environment” which is essentially the process that
involves various places becoming the same due to those places losing its
uniqueness in exchange for conformity (Salvesen 3). He argues it is that
homogenization that “diminishes a sense of place” (Salvesen 3). There is a
struggle within Candy World that is trying to find a balance within conformity
and uniqueness because of the products it sells. It has the mainstream candies
all other confectionary businesses would have but is still trying to maintain
its uniqueness and is doing this by investing into a global market. Thus
working in such an environment tends to influence my views to see that being a
participator in the global market is a positive thing, opening up new doors and
opportunities that one normally would not have within the domestic setting. As
I said, this has only begun to influence my citizenship as globalization is
still a newer concept to me and one that I feel ought to be further
investigated. However, this environment has sparked that aspect of citizenship
within me.
Contextual Links:
Pictures of Products
Conversational Links:
M&M Website
Jelly Belly Website
Willy Wonka Website
Ferrero SpA
TY Website
Associational Links:
Location and Citizenship, Staff and Citizenship, Bibliography
Navigational Links:
Place and Citizenship Main Page
Image Citation:
Products image: http://www.adorablegiftbaskets.com/media/candy-parade-gifts