Morality and Merchandise

Abstract

In this article the authors explore the conflicts and contradictions of vending and shopping at ground zero in New York City. At the center of the analysis are the vendors of World Trade Center souvenirs, who have been subject to both praise and condemnation by tourists who visit the site, police who patrol it, journalists who represent it in the media and politicians who negotiate its management. A substantial number of people describe ground zero as a sacred space, an area that should be protected from the contaminating effects of commerce. Yet simultaneously commerce is central to American national identity. A series of paradoxes about the meaning of capital in modern American society lie at the heart of this analysis.