Culture for Sale: An Ethnographic Study of Commodification at the Westwego Shrimp Lot of Louisiana

• Main Author: Wissing, Rachael
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2010
• Subjects: Cultural commodity; Westwego shrimp lot; globalization; Self-commodification; Westwego; Louisiana
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1213; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2196&context=td

This study examines the marketing strategies employed by vendors at the Westwego shrimp lot in Westwego, Louisiana. Given the fluctuating market conditions and rising costs of seafood production, seafood vendors in the Gulf Coast region must look continuously for new ways to market their product as a cultural commodity. This thesis argues that shrimp becomes a cultural commodity at the Westwego shrimp lot, and that through marketing strategies, vendors at the Westwego shrimp lot both resist and accept certain aspects of globalization. The presence of imports, a presence that emerges in the context of globalization, poses a large threat to the industry‟s survival. Vendors both consciously and unconsciously market shrimp as food and symbol. An analysis of their efforts may contribute to understanding the process of cultural commodification.