Globalization

Question 1

Globalization

Answer 1

• The “reshaping of local conditions by powerful global forces on an ever-intensifying scale” (Schultz et al. 2015, 320)
• People, places, things increasingly connected in a world by technologies, consumer products, cultural interaction and exchange
• But exchange itself is not new, but rather speed and complexity of the range of cultural elements now involved

Question 2

Views of political economy

Answer 2

• Political economy as “social structure organized around material (economic) interests, in which interests are protected and enhanced through the use of power (politics)” (Schultz et al. 2015, 56)
• 1945-1991: Modernization theory
• Late 1980s – present: Dependency theory
  (now repackaged as neoliberalism)
• Also world systems theory

Question 3

Modernization theory

Answer 3

A theory that argues that the social change occurring in non-Western societies under colonial rule was a necessary and inevitable prelude to higher levels of social development that had been reached by the more “modern” naitons

Question 4

Dependency theory

Answer 4

A theory that argues that the success of “independent” capitalist nations has required the failure of “dependent” colonies or nations whose economies have been distorted to serve the needs of dominant capitalist outsiders.

Question 5

Globalization

Answer 5

Reshaping of local conditions by powerful global forces on ever-intensifying scale.

Question 6

Migration and globalization

Answer 6

• In 19th C, capitalism saw migration of people who settled into new communities (assimilation)
• But now increased speed and volume of migration due to desperate political situations and ease of transportation
• But may be fewer economic opportunities for them once they arrive

Question 7

Examples of migration and globalization

Answer 7

• Kori Allan’s research on Canada’s recruitment of skilled immigrants who cannot find work in their fields
• Temporary foreign workers coming to Canada from Caribbean countries and Mexico, but not being allowed to make claims to citizenship
• Migrant workers in the U.S. not ever gaining “legal” status – paying into social security even though never drawing on it

Question 8

Diaspora

Answer 8

• Shared identity of displaced peoples who are spread out over the world (e.g. Jewish diaspora)
• Particular relationships develop with people when they are geographically separated and distanced from the nation
  E.g. Aihwa Ong’s work on “flexible citizenship” among Chinese business elite

Question 9

Anthropological perspective on human rights

Answer 9

• There is no “one size fits all” model that will work for all cases
• 2 main approaches for relating rights to culture
  human rights are opposed to culture
  culture is a human right
• Anthropologists see “human rights culture” as a type of culture emphasizing particular ideas about human beings, reifying the law as a means of determining and enforcing rights

Question 10

Child prostitution in Thailand

Answer 10

• Children are expected to work to fulfill duty to support the family
• Found that could make much more money as prostitutes than by begging
• Recruited by neighbours, friends, not encouraged directly by mothers
• Children did not feel exploited. Some clients continued to support them ($) even upon returning to their home countries

Question 11

Rights in the context of multiculturalism

Answer 11

• Living permanently in settings surrounded by people with cultural backgrounds different from your own and struggling to define the degree to which the cultural beliefs and practices of different groups should or should not be accorded respect and recognition by the wider society
• Canadian examples:
  Sikhs carrying the kirpan
  Muslim woman wearing the hijab in court

Question 12

Cultures in contact

Answer 12

• Ideas of cultural imperialism, hybridization, cosmopolitanism
• Anthropologists recognize that most cultures borrow from others and indigenize aspects of it (making it fit local context) (e.g. Otavalan use of TVs and cookstoves)

Question 13

Cultural imperialism

Answer 13

The idea that some cultures dominate other cultures and that cultural domination by one culture leads inevitably to the destruction of subordinated cultures and their replacement by the culture of those in power

Question 14

Indigenization

Answer 14

The process of bringing something foreign under the control of local people, or of adapting something foreign to serve local purposes

Question 15

Cultural hybridization

Answer 15

Culture mixing that produces a new cultural form

Question 16

Cosmopolitanism

Answer 16

Being at ease in more than one cultural setting