Overview

Most people still think of themselves as belonging to a particular culture. Yet today, many of us who live in affluent societies choose aspects of our lives from a global cultural supermarket, whether in terms of food, the arts or spiritual beliefs. So if roots are becoming simply one more consumer choice, can we still claim to possess a fundamental cultural identity? Global Culture/Individual Identity focuses on three groups for whom the tension between a particular national culture and the global cultural supermarket is especially acute: Japanese artists, American religious seekers and Hong Kong intellectuals after the handover to China. These ethnographic case studies form the basis for a theory of culture which we can all see reflected in our own lives. Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalization, culture and identity in a clear and lively style. His book will be illuminating and valuable for social and cultural anthropologists, their students, as well as more general readers.

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9780415206150

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Clearly written, avoids jargon, and uses theory in a direct and unpretentious way' - Richard Wilk, JARI 'The theoretical breadth of this work is paralelled by its ethnographic breadth ... the three short cultural portraits are competently done ... and some might want to use this book in an undergraduate course in order to provoke discussion about gloablization, relativism or the culture concept.' - Anthropological Forum 'Clearly written, avoids jargon, and uses theory in a direct and unpretentious way' -Richard Wilk, JARI

Mathews writes in a very accessible manner that makes for a book that can be read by both academic specialists and college undergraduates. In fact, this book can be profitably used in an introductory course in cultural anthropology with a global emphasis. Mathews's excellent introduction and conclusion trace and map out the general contours and questions of contemporary debates on globalization and situate his work not only within this body of work but with enduring classic questions of anthropology. His book therefore is a brave attempt to make a case for a clear, grounded, and critical comparative analysis between and among cultural sites. As such, Mathews's work becomes an elegant primer on the intra- and cross-national struggles for cultural identities amidst the hustle and bustle and globalization.. <br>-Martin F. Manalansan IV, IV, The Journal of Asian Studies <br>

Author Information

Gordon Mathews is associate professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the author of What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds.

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