The iconic, threatening figure of the recent, crucial, and bitter election in France — concerning signing on to an EU constitution — was "the Polish plumber," who would hypothetically storm the Champs Elysees to take away French jobs. And of course, this figure recurs from country to country, not just drawn in but drawn into being by hysteria around heavily nationalistic issues: the Turkish guestworker, the Korean bodega owner, and on and on. The person from somewhere else whose mere presence here will result in a kind of destruction, whose existence will somehow negate my existence.
In what relation to this idea stands the Brazilian electrician?
Posted by jane at July 24, 2005 03:35 PM | TrackBack