Globalización. espacio y ritualización: De la plaza püblica al mall.

This paper explores the transition between the public traditional urban square, and shopping malls, but also proposes an interpretive hypothesis on the relationship between young citizens and the new commercial spaces of the globalization era. The research is based on interviews made of young visitors to Maracaibo. Venezuela malls, and their behavior is discussed from a semi-anthropological point of view, in order to interpret the symbolic values and rituals associated with them. Herein are also analyzed the different groups of young people that used to visit the malls as part of a distinctive identity derived not only from shared values but also from the use of a common space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]