The thesis is concerned with the issue of neutralising the subversive potential of political graffiti within the contemporary urban space through its introduction into the cultural, socio-political and economic mainstream of our time. It defines the fundamental characteristics of graffiti and its politicality. It sketches the key elements of contemporary urban spaces as they relate to the spheres of production and consumption of goods and services. It analyses the mainstreaming of political graffiti which occurs against the background of a transformation of post-industrial urban spaces in a neoliberal context. Said transformation takes place within a framework of
gentrification, ever-expanding privately owned public spaces, as well as the rise in urban marketing and city branding. Emphasis is given to the concept of art worlds as well as their infrastructures which are of great importance to the whole process of de-radicalising political graffiti. The analysis is complemented by a case study focusing on the Hong Kong graffiti artist Tsang Tsou-Choi. The work concludes by describing political graffiti as enjoying a certain duality within contemporary urban environments, being both despised as well as celebrated.
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