Fair Play? World’s Fairs as Tools of Power and their Future
Since their inception in 1851, World’s Fairs have been landmark events celebrating worldwide achievements and inventions from televisions to telephones. They’re even responsible for the Eiffel Tower and Space Needle, two landmarks that define their respective cities’ skyline. Nations have historically utilized the events to project messages of their national superiority on the international scene. Despite still happening in the modern age, they make relatively little noise. But what has happened to the fairs?
The first official World’s Fair, Britain’s Great Exhibition, took place in 1851. Although it claimed to showcase the industry of all nations, the exhibit mainly highlighted Britain’s industrial prosperity and emphasized the global reach of the British empire. The justification of colonization became a common factor incorporated within the events. For example, the Parisian Fairs of 1867, 1878, and 1889 displayed Islamic civilizations as rooted in the past and incapable of change. The 1889 Exhibition specifically painted colonized nations like Algeria and Tunisia as dazzled by the grandeur of French society that were grateful to be part of the colonial empire. This justified French colonization, claiming it helped enlighten “uncivilized” nations, when in actuality colonization brought violence and exploitation to these nations, rather than the salvation that the European leaders promised.
Photo Credit: manhhai. Rue du Caire, or Cairo Street, was an exhibit created by the French at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Serving as the second-most visited exhibition after the Eiffel Tower, critics claim the area highlighted the West’s interpretation of North African culture as oriental and exotic.
Seeing the success these European nations had in spreading the message of their supremacy, the United States decided to bring the fairs across the Atlantic. The first American World’s Fair was Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. However, the event also served as a tool to heal the still-fresh wound between the North and South by focusing on a cohesive and united future following the American Civil War. Although this fair brought the concept to the U.S., the triumph of Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 cemented the World Fairs’ cultural importance and displayed American supremacy on the world stage. Despite its popularity and success, the fair received criticism for excluding African-Americans, portraying Native Americans as savages, and limiting the role of women. These exclusions furthered the dynamic of white superiority within the U.S. while exerting American dominance abroad.
Photo Credit: Library of Congress. This political cartoon depicts Uncle Sam dancing with caricatures of other nations at the end of Chicago’s World Fair, hosted in 1893. Puck Magazine, a prominent humor publication at the time, published this image in a special World’s Fair edition of the magazine
One of the main features at the 1904 Louisiana Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri was the Philippine Exhibition, which was advertised as “better than a trip to the Islands themselves.” This display featured over 1,000 Filipinos and forced them to live in a reconstructed village, resulting in an estimated 17 deaths from pneumonia, malnutrition, or suicide. Because the United States acquired the Philippines as a territory just years before, the exhibition positioned Filipinos as barbaric and primitive yet capable of becoming civilized with U.S. intervention. This continued the theme of host nations utilizing the fairs to illustrate their supremacy, which enhanced American pride yet often came at the expense of minority groups.
Photo Credit: Missouri Historical Society. Members of the Igorot tribe partook in a dance on the Philippine Reservation at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis.
In the post-war world, the fairs became a battleground upon which the United States and Soviet Union competed for dominance. For example, both nations showed off exhibits at Brussels’ Expo in 1958, which was the first major fair after the end of World War II. The Soviet and U.S. pavilions reflected each nation’s respective messages. While both emphasized productivity, abundance, and technology, the Soviets focused more on displaying progress under socialism while the U.S. pavilion stressed the superiority of the American lifestyle and culture obtainable through capitalism. A particular standout of the Expo was the Soviet display featuring replicas of Sputnik I and II, which were the first two satellites in space, with the second carrying the first living creature into space.
In 1962, Seattle focused its Century 21 Exhibition on living in the Space Age. The event came at the height of Cold War tensions and served as a backdrop for the assertion of U.S. superiority. Or, at least, it's projection. As the United States was behind in the space race during the fair’s conception in 1957, the event served to project the future the nation longed to embody. As the Soviet Union declined to participate, the U.S. could paint an unobstructed view of its dominance. The Expo also allowed the average citizen to peer into what they predicted would be the world of tomorrow, which included high-speed air cars and high-tech superhomes. Not only did the event succeed financially, but it also debuted Seattle onto the international scene. It provided the city with a monorail system and the Seattle Center, a vibrant cultural center still used today. However, all fairs aren’t so lucky.
Photo Credit: Ultra Swank. Postcard from the Seattle Century 21 Exhibition.
The last fair held in the United States, New Orleans’ 1984 Expo, garnered over $100 million in debt. The fair’s failure to generate a profit disincentivized the United States from hosting again. However, the economic factors were not the only consideration. The collapse of the Soviet Union paved the way for the United States' role as the dominant actor in global affairs. Because the nation’s new unrivaled position mitigated the necessity to use the fairs as a platform to project global superiority, it stopped bidding to host the fairs (at least until its failed 2017 bid).
In 1994, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organization regulating the events, created a resolution requiring that all future Expos have some focus on the environment and nature. Many nations took this opportunity to cultivate their international image in addition to sharing messages of sustainability. However, their promises to uphold environmentally friendly practices often fell short of expectations.
Hanover, Germany ushered in the new millennium with its Humankind - Nature - Technology Expo in 2000, allowing Germany to return as an international player just a decade after the nation’s reunification. However, the Expo was considered a failure. The event fell 22 million attendees short of its goal, and losses totaled about $1.6 billion. The fair did attempt to incorporate sustainability by requiring nations to include specific instructions for the reuse or destruction of their exhibits, but the vast majority of buildings and structures ended up abandoned. This begs the question - are the messages of these Expos truly worth the economic and environmental cost of creating the pavilions?
China also fell short of its environmental promises. As the country became the world’s largest national source of Carbon Dioxide emissions in 2006, they longed to negate this image. During the Expo’s run, Shanghai suspended factory work and construction sites, resulting in the UNEP Environmental Assessment Expo praising the city for its efforts to reduce air pollution. However, these measures immediately ceased afterward, and the resumption of work caused the city’s air quality to reach its worst rate in 5 years just two weeks after the Expo’s conclusion. The event was not just economically and environmentally unsound; it also had harsh humanitarian consequences. Amnesty International found the 2010 Shanghai Expo displaced over 18,000 families in preparation for the exhibit. The Chinese government harassed and even jailed some activists who opposed the evictions.
Dubai’s Connecting Minds, Creating the Future Expo occurred the most recently, in 2021. Focusing on sustainability, mobility, and opportunity, the exhibition also served as an opportunity for the United Arab Emirates to assert itself in international affairs. A report found that 72.6% of visitors agreed they became more aware of the UAE’s history and culture. This knowledge highlights the emphasis on debuting and showcasing the host country of an Expo, proving the efficacy of the events to positively influence their international perceptions regardless of economic and environmental fallout.
Photo Credit: Travis Wise. Pavilion at the Dubai 2020 Expo. The event was delayed one year due to Covid-19.
The same report found that after viewing the climate portion of the expo, the percentage of individuals who agreed to take individual actions to reduce their environmental footprint increased by 94%. Furthermore, Dubai took steps to ensure its infrastructure would be long-lasting. The nation repurposed about 80% of the infrastructure built for the Expo by creating a 15-minute city. This urban planning concept requires that a majority of daily amenities are available within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. Economically speaking, the report predicts that the Expo’s Gross Value Added to the UAE’s economy from 2013-2042 will amount to $42.2 billion.
Although Dubai’s Expo may have been lucrative, it wasn’t exactly ethical. A study conducted by The Associated Press found that foreign laborers constructing pavilions for the Exhibition faced exploitation, encountering unsanitary working conditions, passport seizures, and more. Dubai also receives continuing criticism from organizations such as Human Rights Watch surrounding their poor treatment of migrant workers. And, despite promises to use the Expo as an opportunity to further the city’s commitment to sustainability, the state-owned oil company Adnoc has announced that it will actually be increasing its oil production. This announcement came amid the UN’s 2023 Climate Change Conference, which also took place in Dubai. These practices counter two focuses Dubai promised to prioritize in its Expo: generating clean energy and minimizing its carbon footprint. Because human greenhouse gas emissions are the number one contributor to climate change, Expos that share environmental messages yet still harm the environment may seem counterintuitive. But as has been the trend, the messages the fairs claim to uphold differ starkly from the reality.
As for future fairs, Saudi Arabia won the bid to hold the 2030 Expo in Riyadh. However, this win came as a result of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pricey charm offensive, as he secured the bid by promising BIE delegates investment opportunities and favors to secure their vote. He hopes to revitalize the nation’s reputation. It seems these fairs have become political maneuvers rather than spaces facilitating conversations for purely beneficial means. The Expo’s theme is The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow.
However, Saudi Arabia continues to face international scrutiny for its human rights abuses. The country received an 8/100 on the Freedom House report for 2024, deeming the nation significantly “unfree.” The country is also facing criticism regarding its severe punishments for those who speak out against government corruption on social media. If these expos exist as agents of global advancement, how does the lack of freedom in the host country reflect its mission?
Furthermore, many question both the optimism and glamor of the Expos when examined alongside the state of the world’s climate emergency, claiming that the Expos gloss over major problems. The United Nations Environment Programme’s 2023 Emissions Gap report predicts that with the current policies in place, global temperatures will rise 3°C by 2100. Furthermore, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2023 Report found that climate change-related problems like damages to city infrastructure from flooding and heat-humidity-related deaths from rising temperatures will intensify. The optimistic world the Expositions of modernity looked to build upon seems to be slipping away.
The world does not reflect the future predicted in the Century 21 Exhibit. However, the question remains whether World Expos will serve as a forum facilitating beneficial conversations to mitigate climate change or if they will simply provide glamorous distractions and false promises.
Photo Credit: Missouri History Museum. Members of the Igorot tribe rode atop elephants at the Philippine Exhibit. The St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition took place in 1904.