Download 0495810843_246862

Chapter 27
Global Challenges, Local
Responses, and
the Role of Anthropology
Chapter Preview
What Can Anthropologists Tell Us of
the Future?
 What Are the Cultural Trends in Our
Globalizing World?
 What Problems Must Be Solved for
Humans to Have a Viable Future?

Cultural Future of Humanity



Anthropologists unlike futurist projections try
to view things in context, further than 50
years from the present.
They have a long-term historical
perspective and recognize culture bound
biases.
Anthropologists are concerned with the
tendency to treat traditional societies as
obsolete when they appear to stand in the
way of “development.”
Global Culture



Since the 1950’s it has been a belief that eventually
the world will become one large homogeneous
culture.
Evident through such things as fast food chains and
soda companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola.
Meaning that if a North American were to travel
abroad, no matter the destination, they would see a
similar culture to their own in North America.
 Do you think this could be possible?
World Migrations



Migration continues to have a significant
effect on world social geography,
contributing to culture change, to the
diffusion of ideas and innovations, and to
the complex mixture of cultures in the world
today.
Internal migration occurs within the
boundaries of a country.
External migration is movement from one
country or region to another.
World Migrations

Prior to the mid-20th century, three types of
external migration were most important:
 Voluntary- in search of better
opportunities
 Forced- people who have been driven
from their homelands by war,
environmental disasters, or transported
as slaves
 Imposed- not entirely forced but made
advisable by the circumstances.
Global Culture, Good?




In theory it might sound like a world with more
peace and less misunderstandings of differing
cultures.
The reality is that it is unlikely that cultures will
change into one similar culture especially if they
are being forced to quickly do so by outside
powerful nations.
What is created are poorer peasant communities
who are in the crosshairs of “westernization” and
their indigenous life ways.
Since they failed to change quick enough for the
western corporate powerhouses.
Ethnic Resurgence
The presence of westernization is
glaringly obvious worldwide with the
diffusion of western food, clothes,
music, etc.
 This does not mean it is accepted.
There is an increase of ethnic
pressure against westernization.
 Resistance against globalization is
becoming much more frequent.

Cultural Pluralism &
Multiculturalism




So what is the future?
Chances are it includes a world with
multiculturalism- a public policy of mutual
respect and tolerance for cultural differences.
Ethnic tension, common in pluralistic societies,
sometimes turns violent, leading to formal
separation.
To manage cultural diversity within such
societies, some countries have adopted
multiculturalism as an official public policy.
Transnational Cultural Flows
in a Global Environment



Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai marks out
five global spaces or dimensions in which
transnational cultural flows occur, identifying
them as “scapes” (meaning something
crafted, configured, or transformed by
humans):
Ethnoscapes: the fluid and shifting
landscape of migrants
Technoscapes: the global configuration of
technologies moving at high speeds across
previously restrictive borders.
“Scapes”



Financescapes: the global crossroads of
currency speculation and financial transfers.
Mediascapes: the distribution of electronic
media capabilities to produce and spread
information, plus the large complex repertoire of
narratives and visual images generated by
these media.
Ideoscapes: ideologies produced by the state
and alternative ideologies developed by nonstate and counter-hegemonic forces, around
which societies organize their political cultures
and collective cultural identities.
Structural Power


Structural power is the power that
organizes and orchestrates the systemic
interaction within and among societies.
Often directing economic and political
forces on the one hand and ideological
forces that shape public ideas, values, and
beliefs on the other.
Structural Power



Two major interacting forces of structural
power:
Hard power is the type of power that is
backed up by economic and military force.
Soft power is the type of power that is cooptive where one’s ideas are pressed onto
others through attraction and persuasion to
change one’s ideas, beliefs, or values.
Economic Hard Power


Large corporations which are usually a
cluster of several smaller corporations held
together by common interest, money, and
strategy are controlled by one group in one
country.
Their power and wealth, often exceeding
that of national governments, has increased
dramatically through media expansion.
Economic Hard Power


Mega corporations have enormous
influence on the ideas and behavior of
hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
States and corporations compete for scarce
natural resources, cheap labor, new
commercial markets, and ever-larger profits
in a political arena that spans the entire
globe.
Structural Violence


Structural violence is physical and/or
psychological harm (including repression,
environmental destruction, poverty, hunger,
illness, and premature death) caused by
impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social,
political, and economic systems.
Current structures are poised to offer
wealth, power, and comfort for a lucky few
and poverty, suffering, and death for the
majority.
Overpopulation





In 1750, 1 billion people lived on earth.
By 1950, nearly 2.5 billion.
Between 1950 and 2000 the world
population soared above 6 billion.
Today, India and China have more than 1
billion inhabitants each.
Population projections suggest that global
population will peak around 2050 at about
9.37 billion people.
Overpopulation


Replacement reproduction, the point at
which birthrates and death rates are in
equilibrium; people producing only enough
offspring to replace themselves when they
die.
Even with the replacement reproduction the
population will continue to grow for 50 years
or more.
Overpopulation



Western societies have protected their
environment only when a crisis warranted.
Many of the world’s developing countries
have policies for population growth that
conflict with other policies.
A direct threat to humanity.
Hunger and Obesity




Currently over a quarter of the worlds countries
do not produce enough food to feed their
populations and cannot afford to import what is
needed.
Most of these countries are in Saharan Africa.
What is ironic is that while millions of people go
without food daily, millions of people eat too
much food daily.
Obesity is not solely related to overeating, it is
also related to the high sugar and fat content
found in food.
Global Pollution



Air and water pollution appear to be the direct
result of the human hand. The largest negative
side effect of agribusiness is environmental
degradation.
Pollutants cause the development of acid
precipitation, which damages soil, vegetation,
and wildlife.
Most atmospheric scientists believe that the
greenhouse effect is being enhanced by
increased carbon dioxide, methane, and other
gases produced by industrial and agricultural
activities.
The Culture of Discontent



As previously mentioned the world’s poorest
countries have been told that they can and
should enjoy a standard of living comparable to
that of the rich countries.
The resources necessary to maintain such a
luxurious standard of living are limited. Non
renewable resources would quickly disappear at
such a high rate of consumption.
This growing gap between expectations and
realizations has led to the creation of a culture of
discontent.
The Culture of Discontent



The culture of discontent is not limited to
poor and overpopulated countries.
It can be found among the most wealthy
and enduring nations.
Where the people are spending money to
obtain material riches which often lead to
more discontent.