Blockchain Papers

David Krause

No abstract is available for this record.

Victor Galaz

The hype around blockchain technologies for sustainability peaked a few years ago, with initiatives to “blockchain solutions” to “help save” the Amazon rainforest, improve supply chain transparency, and create new forms of “climate-positive” cryptocurrencies and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). This chapter explores the excitement around blockchain technologies and crypto-currencies for sustainability and climate action, their promises, and their harsh realities. The chapter discusses how a technology intended to increase decentralization and transparency, instead seems to lead to further opacity and the concentration of resources. I also briefly discuss the energy use of cryptocurrencies, the generous use of tax haven jurisdictions, and their tangible material footprint.

Харківський національний університет імені В.Н. Каразіна, Ростислав Луценко

No abstract is available for this record.

Ancellmus Mario Taruliasi

ABSTRACT This study investigates the failure of implementing neoliberalism and free market principles in cryptocurrencies, focusing on South Korea's response to the collapse of LUNA. Despite the promise of decentralization and peer-to-peer transactions inherent in cryptocurrencies, the collapse of LUNA highlights the limitations of unfettered market dynamics in ensuring stability and security. Using a qualitative research approach, this study examines the case of LUNA's collapse within the framework of neoliberal and free market concepts. Drawing on secondary sources such as articles, news, and internet sites, the research sheds light on the complexities of regulating decentralized financial systems. The findings reveal that the South Korean government intervened in the cryptocurrency market following the LUNA collapse to prevent similar incidents and establish regulatory frameworks for crypto assets. This intervention underscores the need for government oversight to maintain market stability and protect investors in the face of market volatility and manipulation. Furthermore, the study discusses the broader implications of these findings for cryptocurrency regulation and neoliberal economic policies. By examining the tensions between decentralized finance and neoliberal principles, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolving relationship between government intervention and market dynamics in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. In conclusion, the study highlights the importance of regulatory oversight in safeguarding the integrity of cryptocurrency markets and ensuring the long-term sustainability of decentralized financial systems. Keywords: cryptocurrency; Luna; South Korea; neoliberalism; free market

Ying Wang

This paper delves into the utilization of NFT (Non-Fungible Token) technology for safeguarding and perpetuating Dunhuang culture, with a focus on media safety. It proposes a research methodology aimed at constructing a digital resource library and management platform utilizing this innovative technology. Addressing the imperative requirements of safeguarding work copyrights and establishing robust transaction mechanisms, it introduces the unique features of NFTs, such as non-fungibility and smart contract transactions, in a novel manner. By digitizing cultural artifacts, this approach establishes clear copyright and ownership attributes, facilitating transparent transactions and seamless transfers of ownership. Moreover, the paper explores the integration of NFT technology into the online dissemination and preservation of Dunhuang cultural works, which encompasses the creation of digital exhibitions and online museums. Through collaborative efforts both domestically and internationally, the digital works of Dunhuang culture are poised to garner global exposure, thereby enhancing its international significance. By delving into the future potential of NFT technology for safeguarding and perpetuating Dunhuang culture, this paper seeks to foster better cultural dissemination strategies, ultimately contributing to the enhanced protection, inheritance, and promotion of Dunhuang culture on a global scale.

Anela Ilijaš

The emergence of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has revolutionized the landscape of digital art, providing artists with new avenues for creation, distribution, and monetization. This research investigates the landscape of NFT art collections featuring Asian characters, specifically Japanese kanji and Korean hangeul, on the OpenSea platform. Theoretical frameworks drawn from digital art valuation, cultural representation in art, and blockchain technology guide the analysis. Findings reveal diverse manifestations of cultural identity and artistic innovation within the analyzed collections, reflecting the intersection of tradition and modernity in Asian art. Economically, prominent artists command substantial sales volumes, while others experience more modest transactions, underscoring the growing interest in NFT art within the global market. Culturally, NFT art collections serve as platforms for preserving and promoting traditional scripts and symbols, contributing to the global dissemination of Asian cultural heritage. Technologically, the adoption of blockchain technology empowers artists to assert ownership over their creations and establish new paradigms of value and authenticity. In conclusion, this research highlights the transformative potential of NFTs in reshaping the landscape of art and culture, emphasizing the need for continued exploration and collaboration to amplify cultural voices and expand artistic horizons in the digital age.

Authors unavailable

Combining the characteristics of blockchain technology with distributed ledger, consensus mechanism, encryption algorithm, etc., this paper proposes a filtering algorithm based on intangible cultural heritage, builds a video tracking scanning imaging model of dancers in ethnic areas, and detects the edges of video images of dancers in ethnic areas.The contour model is used to enhance the video images of dancers in ethnic areas according to the initial contour distribution, and establish a visual perception model of the dancers in ethnic areas.Sequence, the posture probability of the observation sequence is obtained through the forwardbackward algorithm, and the corresponding posture of the hidden Markov model with the largest observation sequence probability value is the dance tossing posture that needs to be recognized.

Kohei Ichihara

In 2022, the Japanese government is strongly proposing to focus on developing the Web3 industry. The government is exploring the use of NFTs to commercialize content such as Japanese animations and games as Web3 businesses. NFT (Non-Fungible Token) means "unique and non-substitutable data unit recorded in blockchain". NFT indicates the owner of digital content by linking the NFT with digital content such as image or audio data. On the other hand, NFTs are constructed using complex technologies such as “blockchain” and “smart contracts”. For this reason, many people do not understand the technical mechanism of NFTs. There are also aspects of excessive expectations for NFTs based on misunderstandings. I think that the bubble caused by excessive expectations negatively affects the development of technology. Therefore, in this research, I investigated what kind of value people find after understanding the mechanism of NFTs. Also, based on the survey, I find the functions desired for NFTs. Specifically, I made a video for non-technical people to easy to understand how NFTs work. And I showed the non-technical people the video with a demonstration of NFT tampering. After showing the video to the viewers, I surveyed them to investigate how their understanding of NFTs and the perceived value of NFTs changed. As a result, people understood that NFTs were not used as keys to access contents, but rather as a way to brag about what the holders had.

Sihao Jiang

The concept of cryptocurrency arose and the first cryptocurrency bitcoin was introduced in 2009 after the broken out of global financial crisis in 2008. In the 12-years development of cryptocurrency, the great and famous entrepreneur Elon Musk has occupied the most prominent role in recent years. Based on information retrieval and literature analysis, Elon Musk has a great effect on the development of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, it is assumed that Elon Musk holds a large number of cryptocurrencies, e.g., Bitcoin, Dogecoin. It is found that Elon Musk brings the cryptocurrency much media propagation, i.e., he is the biggest potential beneficiary. These results shed light on investigating the impact of famous celebrities on cryptocurrency, which can take control of its pulling and smashing. In future, more samples and cases can be analyzed into this topic by researchers to make it more objective and multiple.

Soo-Young Nam

Theorizing the Invisible for the Media Industry:Cryptology and the Unknown Inequality Soo-Young Nam (bio) Digital Media Networks and the Invisible System Our hope that the development of digital technology will enrich our media experience is predicated on the belief that digital records are infallible. This concept of infallibility now seems to be going to extremes. The NFT (non-fungible token) has become one piece of evidence. A digital device is a system that can process large amounts of data without errors, and the capacity of this system is growing so large that it is difficult for us to measure it. Now, in this vast network, the pieces that are difficult to specify individually are asserting themselves as absolute proof of infallibility by forming an irreplaceable combination. An NFT proves its value in such a blockchain-like way, with a one-and-only-one combination. Another characteristic of an NFT is that it is based on the communication between machines (computers), rather than an ordinary token that is perceptible to humans. Apart from the fact that recent media arts (e.g., new media arts) are traded through NFT certification, the emergence of NFTs interestingly discloses the aspect of the media environment of modern society of late capitalism in terms of the question of how to deal with the invisible. I will focus on the point that this new industry of NFTs makes profits from "the invisible" to argue that "the invisible" becomes a new field for the capitalist apparatus and raises critical questions beyond the human-centered culture. Therefore, it will be necessary to pay attention to cryptology as a way to theorize how to deal with "the invisible" in our digital culture. NFTs may provide benefits through economic expansion in the short term, but in the long run they will deepen knowledge inequality and reinforce distrust in the public sphere. In the long run, our belief in media democratization (roughly meaning the growth of people's participation in media) through media eruption can be distorted and led to the dysfunction of mass communication in high-tech media environments such as South Korea. South Korea's internet environment is better than any other country's. It is also difficult to deny its advanced digital media technology. [End Page 123] South Korea can be considered a prime example of a media eruption. Here I use the term "media eruption" in two senses: the overflow of new media of different types, and the overflow of information through these media at the same time. In this era, our daily lives are connected with media whether voluntarily or unconsciously, in analog or digital ways. In most cases, we are also involved in the production of information disseminated by such media. The purposes of this article are twofold: first, to point out an aspect of South Korean society from a critical point of view on the media overflow in contemporary South Korea; and second, to examine whether such a change in the media environment can ultimately provide an opportunity to critically analyze the operating techniques of the invisible as new driving forces of capitalism via the idea of cryptology. In other words, I will point out the negative aspects from the sociological perspective of media overflow, as well as the positive turning points in terms of machine and media discourse. Of course, each pole is already two-sided in its own right. For example, media criticism does not ignore the historical elements of media democratization, aspects that address the long history of inequality in information production, of balancing information distribution by recognition of popular consensus. On the other hand, overcoming the human-centered discourse was not achieved without considering the problem of the loss of subjectivity caused by the domination of technological media. The Politics of Invisibility Nick Couldry explains that people use media almost as rituals, ways of strengthening our sense of belonging to society. His insight points to society at the peak of live broadcasting at the end of the twentieth century, when twenty-four-hour broadcasts and live programs made people feel as if their lives were linked to the center of society. However, since 9/11, when the world witnessed...

Pranav Behal

Web3’s current applications mostly revolve around financial systems; yield farming, lending and borrowing, token swaps, bridges, and many more. Applications with social features in mind have started to take light, as well as more incentives for creators to join Web3. This paper aims to explain an idea involving listen-to-earn mechanics, the concept that users could be compensated for their time listening to music. I explain how artists could benefit significantly from this mechanic if implemented correctly. I also analyze how a platform like this can change the music industry and bring more mainstream attention to Web3, thus increasing users. I detail some paths to success and sustainability for a project such as this, as well as some potential issues I see. Benefits and incentives for artists and content creators using Web3’s technologies, such as DAOs and NFTs, are also explained in this paper. I explain the potential implications that Web3 could bring to the music industry and how artists and content creators can have better, more engaging communities while also being paid much more than they were using Web2’s platforms. These findings alleviate the misconceptions that Web3’s technologies will hurt content creators and show a path towards sustainability in the music industry.

Shin-Nam Lee

본 연구에서는 새로운 형태의 민간화폐에 대한 화폐창출의 민간화 과정을 살펴보고 민간화폐제도의 소멸 이후 중앙은행제도를 통해 국가 권력이 국가경제운영의 도구로 활용되는 화폐에 대한 권한을 독점하는 과정과 중앙은행이 새로운 유형의 민간화폐인 Bitcoin의 등장에 대하여 부정적인 입장을 취하는 이유와 다른 나라의 규제차이를 분석하였다. 첫째, 개별 국가의 Bitcoin 규제수준을 정하는데 전자화폐로 접근할 것인지, 과세를 적용하는 형태의 규제를 실시할 것인지, 화폐로 인정할 것인지에 대하여 판단 근거에 대한 결정이 이루어지지 않은 단계이다. 둘째, 국가는 화폐에 대한 전권을 소유해야 한다는 전통적 관점을 유지하고 있다. 셋째, Bitcoin의 속성과 현황에 기초하여 다른 나라의 규제현황과 규제수준 등을 각국 정부와 중앙은행의 발표, 공신력이 있는 언론보도를 기초로 분류하였고, Bitcoin을 화폐의 기능적 관점에서 사례분석을 통하여 각국의 규제에 차이가 나는 이유를 규명하였다.

Usman W. Chohan

No abstract is available for this record.

Matthew J. Ferrence

When Natalie Maines spoke into her microphone in the spring of 2003, the crowd at London's Shepherds Bush Theatre responded with cheers. Said Maines: “Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas” (“Shut up and Sing”). The result—perhaps inevitable in the build-up to the Iraq War and its concurrent patriotic swell—struck Maines's group, the Dixie Chicks, from the top of the country music charts, drove them from the good graces of country music fans across the United States, and lingered for years in the form of reduced attendance and weaker album sales. Opponents were incensed that Maines—and by extension, the full trio of the Dixie Chicks—would openly criticize a wartime president and saw the comment as nearly an act of treason, particularly since the words were uttered abroad to an audience who likely needed little encouragement to disagree with the policies of George W. Bush. Within the dominant conservative element of country music, such a stance lay in stark contrast to the implied common values of that culture, and the Dixie Chicks were villainized for failing to adhere to those standards. At stake, for the vocal opponents who effectively barred the Dixie Chicks from country music radio and who discarded or destroyed old albums en masse, was the nation itself. This chink in the thematic armor of patriotic country music suggested a weakness within the resolve of the citizenry that demanded immediate and sure response. Thus, the Dixie Chicks were figuratively cast out of the nation of country music, were stripped of their citizenship and recast as dangerous outlaws—but not the good kind that popularized country music in the ‘70s. In fact, though the Dixie Chicks recently swept the Grammy Awards in 2007—winning in five categories, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album—it is notable that their success did not come within their “home” community of the Country Music Awards. The outlaw Chicks were not with the president, and were therefore against America; worse, they were not with country music, and were therefore against a culture that has increasingly become an insistent site of American identity in contemporary America. Call it Redneck America, a version of the United States that defines itself through self-identification as rural, country, working class, simple, true, patriotic. It is through this identification that a large portion of the U.S. sees itself or, more importantly, how the U.S. can define itself in the face of a globalizing force that threatens to undermine the previously unchallenged dominance of an America predicated on “traditional” values of home, hearth, heterosexuality, whiteness, and patriarchy. Country music, then, becomes an anthem for this America, as the form celebrates and shares these common ideals. There are scripts to country music, which the Dixie Chicks failed to follow, just as there are scripts for this idealized Redneck America. It is by following these scripts that individuals enact citizenship and prove their fidelity to the nation, and it is through these scripts that the U.S. sees itself, or perhaps how the U.S. can separate its citizenry into categories of proper and suspect. Under this system of classification the Dixie Chicks, of course, are suspect. The division inherent within this Redneck Nation is more than mere classification, as it serves to establish a baseline of normalcy for the broader American culture. That is to say, in the Redneck Nation model I'm employing, “Redneck” ceases to be a pejorative classification of the rural, southern, white working class, and instead becomes a new mode of the mainstream, one that is simultaneously unbound by the very real pressures of class and status that defined the “traditional” redneck or hillbilly even as it seeks to reify certain social situations inherent within a white, hetero, masculine America. As a theoretical construct, the Redneck Nation is certainly much broader than the Dixie Chicks and their criticism of war, broader than country music, even broader than the concept of scripts I am examining here. In fact, the modern iteration of the Redneck, as a socio-political construct of self-assignation, spreads throughout American literature and culture, with the roots of the Redneck Ideal in early American frontier literature, then continuing though modern and contemporary Southern literature and, now, a broader popular culture. In the current state of our Redneck Nation, individuals may choose to claim membership as a means to establish an incontrovertible American citizenship. Based in American ideals of self-reliance (consider Emerson and Jefferson as proto-Rednecks) and anti-elitism, the ethos of the modern Redneck identification evokes a distinctly American sense that can be defined by what it is not: not elite or high-falutin’, not overly intellectual, not overly-socialized and, perhaps most crucially, not not-American. Here I turn back to the Dixie Chicks and their violation of the American Redneck scripts. In this context, the issue of Patriotism looms largest, both overtly as a mechanism for displaying ones allegiance to a national power (and, here, Maines violated Patriotism by choosing to be “not-with” the nation) and covertly as a sign of acceptance of the ideals of the less-tangible Redneck Nation that defines contemporary American political/patriotic discourse. The two go hand in hand, of course, as the scripts I'm suggesting require fidelity to the national power as evidence of membership in the ideological Nation, just as full citizenship in the Redneck discourse predicates unwavering allegiance to the U.S. government. In the wake of 9/11, several country stars released hyper-patriotic songs that tapped in to the general American sentiment of shock, anger, even war-readiness: Clint Black's “Iraq and Roll,” Alan Jackson's “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”, Darryl Worley's “Have You Forgotten,” Chely Wright's “Bumper of my SUV,” and of course Toby Keith's aggressive “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”1. Each of these, in its own way, followed the accepted guidelines of the Redneck Nation, as each song displayed a reaction that expressed emotions and reactions proper for the idealized American citizen. The shock, anger, and latent (or less-than-latent) desire for retribution fit the national Zeitgeist perfectly, just as it fit the acceptable conservative parameters of the Redneck scripts in operation. Keith, in fact, became an anthem-writer for the American troops themselves, as his melodic desire to stick a boot in the collective terrorist ass was soon adopted as an unofficial fight song for the nation. Keith himself seemed plenty willing to wave the flag, support the troops, and act the part of the ideal, masculine, aggressive, hetero citizen—an angry white man ready to do battle for the good of the nation. And, even as support of the ongoing war in Iraq declines, the determination for “true” Americans to support the troops, to display fidelity to the homeland, to emphasize and defend good old-fashioned American values, remains steadfast. Put another way, Chevy truck commercials are still on the air. Enter the Dixie Chicks, who must be considered as tangential citizens of contemporary America, as defined by the scripts of the Redneck Nation, because of their failure to fit the masculine ideal. Still, before the 2003 uproar, the Dixie Chicks fit the scripts just fine, singing their way to the top of country music, even if their brand of country might be a little too bluegrass for the usual mainstream. But so long as the Chicks acted within the accepted parameters of their scripts—as pretty girls singing pretty songs, raising pretty children—they were acceptable citizens. But in going off-book, so to speak, by criticizing the president and his desire to go to war, the Dixie Chicks exposed themselves as deviants from the Redneck Nation. Their resistance, then, immediately called into question their status as citizens. And, in fact, with their lack of maleness already working against them, they were quickly condemned as poseurs to the Redneck Nation and were summarily evicted. That their status could be no more than tangential pre-Shepherds Bush is revealed in the way that criticism against the Dixie Chicks quickly took an ugly gendered turn. Maines was called “The Dixie Bitch,” and at least one country music listener called in to a station to offer this advice: “They should send Natalie over to Iraq, strap her to a bomb, and just drop her over Baghdad” (Shut Up and Sing). Similarly, the band was relabeled as the “Dixie Sluts” or “Ditzy Twits,” who Pat Buchanan suggested were “the dumbest, dumbest bimbos, with due respect” (Shut Up and Sing). That a patriotic snafu could so quickly result in the assignation of status as Bitches, Sluts, Ditzes, and Bimbos displays how tenuous the band's citizenship in the nation had been prior to the flap. Further, that such gendered epithets were so close at hand displays the inherent masculinity and anti-feminism within the script of the Redneck Nation. Any woman who breaks from the standard line is instantly cast as sexualized and empty-headed, removing her ability to offer intelligent debate (after all, she's just a bimbo ditz!) and reaffirming the woman's role as sexual object. Following the script allows temporary relief from or, at least, sublimated patriarchal dominance. Citizenship can only be won, though, by strict submission to the ideals of the Nation; deviance risks banishment and loss of protection. Most importantly, here, are the scripts themselves, not the authenticity of the actors nor even presidential opposition itself—at least not exactly. The trick of the Redneck Ideal is that it does not require actual membership of social class. As I mentioned before, the phenomena that strikes me most is how individuals assume the role of Redneck despite socio-economic positions that would seem to nullify their inclusion. George Bush, obviously, fits this bill, as his personal image depends heavily on his role as self-acclaimed Redneck. But as Country Music Television chief Brian Philips has said: “There's a real dichotomy between the raising of the son, George W., and the way most of our audience has been raised. But God bless Karl Rove if he was able to connect those two and make people feel like he was one of us” (Willman 111). The function of the scripts, then, might be best explained as a sort of Althusserian hailing, where self-assignation as Redneck comes about because of the interpellation enacted by ideological state apparatuses, which creates an “imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (693). So, individuals who are not of the marginalized working class recast themselves as such and, more, themselves convert into an apparatus that demands others who are conceived as part of the imagined class act along the lines of the scripts that govern properly inclusive behavior. George Bush, here, might be considered as equally hailed as other individuals, as his presidential policy is restricted by the ideology of the Redneck Ideal: he must follow the guidelines of white, Christian, masculine America. To prove his validity as leader of the United States, he must act within the ideal, thereby offering both model and defense of citizenship. The Dixie Chicks, then, threatened the solidarity of the Ideal, acting from within the culture in opposition to the leader of that culture. Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks read it best: “It had to be somebody or some group that seemed like the All-American girls. It was perfect. It had to be the unlikely voice from what looked like the conservative heart of America saying it. That was perfect” (Shut Up and Sing). Their greatest threat to the Redneck Ideal was to disrupt the ideological image, to prove that the so-called “conservative heart of America” was a constructed heart, to reveal just how the nation hails its citizens and dictates a particular way of being. That an All-American girl group could, in fact, break from the script showed the scripts to be impermanent, which in turn called into question the accepted parameters of citizenship. Interestingly, even as the Dixie Chicks create that disruption, they cannot help but be bound by certain scripts. The documentary Shut Up and Sing, which chronicles the group's actions following their controversy, and which is clearly intended as a remediation of their image or, more, as defense of their position, places the women in the group within a clearly feminine ideal. Each is portrayed as mother, as wife, with many family scenes prominently featured. The point seems to be that the Chicks were unduly cast as rabble-rousers, that they actually fit the American ideal. Such is the power of the script: even those who break free from it find themselves inescapably written in. All of which leads me to WWE wrestling. Howdy. I know what you're all thinkin’. Now I reckon you're all a little confused out there. But I'm not what you think I am. [He pauses to put on his black cowboy hat] I ain't no foreigner. I ain't your stereotype. I ain't no Kung Fu fighter. And to me, chopsticks are just a piece of wood. Mattera fact, there ain't no yeller about me. But there's one color about me. A little red. That's right. I'm a redneck. My name's Jimmy Wang Yang. And I'm your boy. Giddyup. Yee haw (WWE website). The message is unmistakable, substituting one stereotype for another, but clearly aligning the wrestler with the Redneck Ideal instead of the foreign suspect. He marks himself visually as part of the culture, dressed in the videos in jeans, with the hat, standing in front of a pickup truck. He wears a black leather vest emblazoned on the back with the confederate battle flag. In the ring, he wrestles in a white tank top and blue jean-like trousers and wears a Fu Manchu mustache that presents an odd duality. Historically, such facial hair marks the ethnicity of the Far East, calling to mind stereotyped images of the Mongol warriors or Chinese Kung-Fu masters that Yang denies as his heritage in the video. Yet, at the same time, the Fu Manchu has more recently been adopted as a fairly typical marker of the good old boy. On Jimmy Wang Yang, the mustache could lend either way, reinforcing his Korean ancestry or helping to mark him as the redneck he claims to be. It is through scripting, however, that his appearance becomes unambiguous. He is a Redneck, as he proclaims, because he adheres to the expected, stereotypical parameters of the redneck. More, he substitutes—or, in the case of the Fu Manchu, transforms—the stereotypes of the Asian with the stereotypes of the white Southern good old boy, and in so doing eases anxieties that might appear because of his position as a minority within wrestling. In another video, he wonders why Asians are always thought to be good at math, why they are thought to set the curve. “Only curves I know is from my old lady,” he says, etching a silhouette in the air with his hands. In twenty seconds, he abdicates his role as stereotypically intelligent Asian, substituting instead a persona of the stereotypically chauvinist redneck, thereby enacting the properly anti-intellectual strain of the Redneck Ideal and proving that he is not claiming citizenship as anything other than American. As a visually obvious minority, Jimmy Wang Yang would not immediately fit the standards of the Redneck Ideal without these “credibility”-establishing establishing videos. Like the Dixie Chicks, Yang's status as minority places him in an always tangential citizenship. But unlike the Chicks, he ameliorates his position and guarantees his “naturalization” as American citizen through scripts that reinforce his desire to be American and proves through actions his willingness to be not not-American. Significantly, prior to assuming the identity of Jimmy Wang Yang, the man in the role wrestled on Smackdown as Akio, an “evil” Japanese wrestler whose unmediated Asianness proved his outsider status and guaranteed his situation as bad guy. He also used to wrestle as part of a trio of Elvis impersonators: there's surely grand significance there, even if it presently escapes me. Certainly, race is strongly in play with the case of Jimmy Wang Yang, and just as certainly, race is one of the most crucial issues in play with the Redneck Ideal. While scholars like Lucy Jarosz and Victoria Lawson see the construction of the redneck stereotype as a means for middle and upper class whites to deflect the guilt of racism—white racism is explained as “redneck” racism (11)—the self-assignation of Redneck that is so readily apparent in the case of Jimmy Wang Yang serves instead as a way to manage racism, to allow for it without accepting guilt. That is, the Redneck script exacts a strategic move that furthers the agenda of white dominance without accepting blame. Characters like Jimmy Wang Yang don't so much reinforce stereotypes as maintain them, allowing whites to both feel distance from “real” rednecks—since it's Jimmy, after all, doing the stereotyping—and to feel part of the group. The Redneck script maintains the power and prominence of traditional white values. By adopting the stance of “minority,” or by showing how a visually obvious minority can be included in the Redneck category, the Redneck can safely assume power without notice or critique. The Redneck becomes both an achieving “minority” and a permanent of The on the back of Jimmy Wang Yang's leather then, becomes a marker of his acceptance of the Redneck Ideal and a of the power of the Ideal. It has itself to the of Jimmy Wang Yang, him as part of the group and to the group's dominance. just as the ideology hails whites and them to follow the scripts of America, it hails and them the way to find membership in the nation. by adopting and accepting that which the Redneck Ideal demands can an be accepted into national citizenship. president, country or of American identity is predicated on of Redneck And increasingly in American culture, failing to status as ideological Redneck means failing to of full into national citizenship.