A World Beyond Difference: Cultural Identity in the Age of Globalization

A World Beyond Difference unpacks the globalization literature and fills a void by presenting a lively conceptual and historical map of how we think about the emerging socio–political world, and – above all – how we think politically about human cultural differences. Anthropologist Ronald Niezen extracts central themes from the work of recent major theorists, comparing them to classical social theorists in an instructive manner. He also draws on the local work of ethnographers to counter relativist and globalist discourses. Because of its interdisciplinary scope and engaging style, A World Beyond Difference will appeal to non–specialists as well as to those in courses on globalization, cultural theory, history, political science, sociology, and anthropology.


Spis treści:
Preface.
1. Introduction.
2. The Tradition of Rational Utopianism.
A Durable Ideal.
Early Imaginings.
Scientific Discovery and Universal Rights.
Socio–evolutionism.
World History and World Revolution.
3. The Cultural Contradictions of Globalization.
Cultural Globalization.
Free Trade Globalization.
4. (Anti)Globalization from Below.
The Dilemmas of Resistance.
Defiant Islam.
International Indigenism.
Digital Identity.
Two Approaches to (Anti)Globalization.
5. Human Rights Pluralism and Universalism.
Rationalism, Religion, and Utopia.
The Limits of Liberal Evangelism.
The Collective Rights Dilemma.
6. Postmodernism’s Revolt against Order.
Postmodernism Ill–defined.
Pomotopia.
Civil Society and Extraparliamentary Democracy.
7. The New Neo–Marxism.
The Moment of Disillusionment.
Postmodernism’s Post–Marxism.
From Empire to Earthly City.
The End of Revolution.
8. Paradigms of Postcolonial Liberation.
Cultural Particularism and Universalism.
The Colonial Conditio n and its Aftermath.
The Language of Imperialism.
Diversity as a Universal Project.
The Grammar of Culture.
9. Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
Index

Nota biograficzna:
Ronald Niezen is Visiting Professor of Anthropology at McGill University and Guest Researcher at the Institut für Europäische Ethnologie at Humboldt University in Berlin, and former Associate Professor of Anthropology and of Social Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of The Origins of Indigenism: Human Rights and the Politics of Identity (2003), Spirit Wars (2000), and Defending the Land (1998).

Okładka tylna:
A World Beyond Difference unpacks the globalization literature and fills a void by presenting a lively conceptual and historical map of how we think about the emerging socio–political world, and – above all – how we think politically about human cultural differences. Anthropologist Ronald Niezen extracts central themes from the work of recent major theorists, comparing them to classical social theorists in an instructive manner. He also draws on the local work of ethnographers to counter relativist and globalist discourses. Because of its interdisciplinary scope and engaging style, A World Beyond Difference will appeal to non–specialists as well as to those in courses on globalization, cultural theory, history, political science, sociology, and anthropology.