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SouthWest Links

Southern California: Beyond Blade Runner

Southern California appears to have lost the luster of its Mediterranean golden daze, its glitz appeal, and the lore of power & wealth. The 90s have given us a different image of its Apocalyptic theme park and capital city, Los Angeles. Its ultimate psotmodern critique is The Ecology of Fear by Mike Davis. You remember some of the stuff,

• Rodney King and his assailants caught on tape, then, after the Simi Valley acquittal, the LA riots.
• Daryl Gates, LA chief of police:
• The October-November 1993 foothills fires
• The Northridge earthquake, 1994
• O.J.
• Drought

Here are some links to try out:

• Check out reviews of The City of Quartz, by Mike Davis, the ultimate prophet of Southwest gloom and doom.
• Matt Jalbert offers a concise analysis of the forces creating the urban form typified by Los Angeles, Burbs, Blockbusting, and Blacks. This piece complements my remarks dealing with cities.
• The Rodney King riots are described by the Western Regional Office of the NAACP, headquartered in L.A.
• Mike Davis has taken LA to task, as noted above, but he has done the same in his postmodern critique of Los Vegas.

ProfWork, by Wayne Hayes, Ph.D.
for Inside America, AAMR30501
whayes@orion.ramapo.edu
Friday, January 04, 1980 01:35 PM