Week 2 (POL 130) Chocolate Museum and Fascism

 Week 2 (POL 130) Chocolate Museum and Fascism 

    This week I visited the Chocolate Museum in the Born District of Barcelona. The museum showed the history of cacao and its early use by the Aztecs who saw it not only as an edible treat, but as a currency. They used it to trade, pay taxes, and pay tribute to their rulers. This connects to our POL 130 teachings about power and economic systems. Anything that relates to money is always political and used by the commonwealth and the people in power. Later on in history, the European colonizers brought cacao back to Europe which made it a luxury and a status piece. When the old systems and meanings of cacao were destroyed it was clear that colonialism seizes things other than land such as values, meanings, and even systems of trade. 

    After the museum I noticed a porta potty that was graffitied with an insert about fascism which instantly made me think about our POL 130 class. It said Fascistas fuera del barrio which means Fascists out of the neighborhood. This act of vandalism reminded me that Spanish politics are still rooted by its fascist past, especially Franco's fascist dictatorship. Spain's transition to Democracy was fairly recent, happening in the 1970's and tensions are still high between left and right wing parties trying to claim political power. 

    The graffiti was a political act of resistance, showing who does and doesn't belong in their community. It connects to the topics of public space, protest, and political memory. In Barcelona you notice that the politics of identity are out on the walls, sidewalks, stores, public transits, and even porta potties.