Globalization and Culture: Global Mélange

By Jan Nederveen Pieterse

Book Overview

Now in a fully revised and updated edition, this seminal text asks if there is cultural life after the "clash of civilizations" and global McDonaldization. Internationally award-winning author Jan Nederveen Pieterse argues that what is taking place is the formation of a global m lange, a culture of hybridization. From this perspective on globalization, conflict may be mitigated and identity preserved, albeit transformed. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of hybridization through a series of innovative conceptual tables that are bolstered by textual analysis and compelling examples from around the world. In a new chapter, the author explores East-West hybridities--the idea that globalization is a process of braiding rather than simply a diffusion from developed to developing countries. This historically deep and geographically wide approach to globalization is essential reading as we face the increasing spread of conflicts bred by cultural misunderstanding.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742556069
• ISBN13: 9780742556065
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 1.1" x 6.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Globalization and Culture

I was very pleased with the whole process. I received the book very quickly and it was in excellent condition.

an excellent meta-view of globalization

Pieterse presents a view of globalization that transcends the usual view that it has only begun in the last few decades. He sees globalization as a process that began when the first humans left Africa 75K years ago and that has only been accelerated in recent decades. By using the idea of hybridity as a working thesis, he argues that mixing and border crossing have been and remain important and unavoidable elements in cultural interchange. If you're interested in this topic, this is a must read book.