Already having been declared passé by its instigators in the United States, the flash mob fad has faded in India, as well. The reason, though, isn't that flash mobbing has lost its appeal, but that the police won't let five people gather without a permit.
Here is an interesting example of two phenomena: 1.) the flash mob fad circled the globe in weeks and is dying at an equally breakneck pace, suggesting that social change, while it is accelerated, is still a process of accretion which may or may not lead to sudden large-scale changes, and; 2.) the conflict of culture and context with social action. According to the organizer of the first Indian flash mob: "One of the major inherent disadvantages this project has is that it's called a flash mob," he said, emphasising mob . "That dreaded mob word makes the police and other agencies stand up and notice this project. While it feels good to bring smiles to so many people's faces and it feels good to see the growing popularity of this concept, we were not hoping for that kind of attention from the legal authorities."
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at October 8, 2003 01:49 PM | TrackBack