The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon
The multinational retailer, Costco, opened its first store in Iceland during spring 2017. Not only was the opening greatly anticipated but following the store opening, Costco became one of the key issues in the Icelandic media. Our analysis focuses on Costco’s opening from insights derived from theo...
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fticelandunivojs:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/2665 2023-08-20T04:07:18+02:00 The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon Loftsdóttir, Kristín Mixa, Már Wolfgang 2017-12-14 application/pdf https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2 eng eng Stjórnsýslustofnun https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2/pdf https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2 Copyright (c) 2017 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration; Vol. 13 No. 2 (2017): Autumn publication; 189-2010 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla; Bnd. 13 Nr. 2 (2017): Hausthefti; 189-2010 1670-679X 1670-6803 Costco Iceland globalization post-crash info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2017 fticelandunivojs 2023-08-01T12:28:55Z The multinational retailer, Costco, opened its first store in Iceland during spring 2017. Not only was the opening greatly anticipated but following the store opening, Costco became one of the key issues in the Icelandic media. Our analysis focuses on Costco’s opening from insights derived from theories of globalization of mobility, where we emphasize that discussions about Costco in Iceland cannot be separated from the post-crash atmosphere after the massive economic crash in 2008. Our perspective is particularly influenced by Tsing’s (2005) emphasis on the unpredictability of global phenomena that move around and transplant in a new context. Our analysis both contextualize Costco’s arrival within Iceland’s historical and social context and analyzes some of the main themes in the Icelandic media discussion during the opening. The dualistic opposition of ‘us’ (Icelanders) against ‘them’ (foreigners), which has been quite salient in Iceland, were largely invisible in discussions about Costco’s opening. Costco in Iceland was quickly incorporated into a discourse as a positive force against Icelandic corruption that started after the crash. The ‘us against them’ themes thus turned from being ‘Icelanders against foreigners’ into ‘the Icelandic population against Iceland’s elite retail sector. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Iceland: Peer Reviewed Journals |
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Open Polar |
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University of Iceland: Peer Reviewed Journals |
op_collection_id |
fticelandunivojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Costco Iceland globalization post-crash |
spellingShingle |
Costco Iceland globalization post-crash Loftsdóttir, Kristín Mixa, Már Wolfgang The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
topic_facet |
Costco Iceland globalization post-crash |
description |
The multinational retailer, Costco, opened its first store in Iceland during spring 2017. Not only was the opening greatly anticipated but following the store opening, Costco became one of the key issues in the Icelandic media. Our analysis focuses on Costco’s opening from insights derived from theories of globalization of mobility, where we emphasize that discussions about Costco in Iceland cannot be separated from the post-crash atmosphere after the massive economic crash in 2008. Our perspective is particularly influenced by Tsing’s (2005) emphasis on the unpredictability of global phenomena that move around and transplant in a new context. Our analysis both contextualize Costco’s arrival within Iceland’s historical and social context and analyzes some of the main themes in the Icelandic media discussion during the opening. The dualistic opposition of ‘us’ (Icelanders) against ‘them’ (foreigners), which has been quite salient in Iceland, were largely invisible in discussions about Costco’s opening. Costco in Iceland was quickly incorporated into a discourse as a positive force against Icelandic corruption that started after the crash. The ‘us against them’ themes thus turned from being ‘Icelanders against foreigners’ into ‘the Icelandic population against Iceland’s elite retail sector. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Loftsdóttir, Kristín Mixa, Már Wolfgang |
author_facet |
Loftsdóttir, Kristín Mixa, Már Wolfgang |
author_sort |
Loftsdóttir, Kristín |
title |
The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
title_short |
The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
title_full |
The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
title_fullStr |
The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
title_full_unstemmed |
The opening of Costco in Iceland: Unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
title_sort |
opening of costco in iceland: unexpected meanings of globalized phenomenon |
publisher |
Stjórnsýslustofnun |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration; Vol. 13 No. 2 (2017): Autumn publication; 189-2010 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla; Bnd. 13 Nr. 2 (2017): Hausthefti; 189-2010 1670-679X 1670-6803 |
op_relation |
https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2/pdf https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/irpa/article/view/a.2017.13.2.2 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2017 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
_version_ |
1774718834166464512 |