Globalization and Culture: Global Mélange

By Jan Nederveen Pieterse

Book Overview

Now updated with new chapters on culture and on populism, this seminal text disputes the view that we are experiencing a "clash of civilizations" as well as the idea that globalization leads to cultural homogenization. Instead, Jan Nederveen Pieterse argues that we are witnessing the formation of a global m lange culture through processes of cultural mixing or hybridization. From this perspective on globalization, conflict may be mitigated and identity preserved, albeit transformed. In a new chapter on China, the author focuses on the key issue of agency and power in hybridization. Throughout, the book offers a comprehensive treatment of hybridization arguments, and in discussing globalization and culture, problematizes the meaning of culture. 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: 1538115239
• ISBN13: 9781538115237
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• 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.