Globalization may not be a new phenomenon, but whatever its historical dimensions, globalization today is accelerating and intensifying. If the broad pattern and general pace of globalization are apparent, its specific contours and consequences are in dispute. In the public arena, this can be seen in debates about the extent to which globalization is leading to homogenization and uniformity as opposed to resistance and reaction. The controversial works of Benjamin Barber and Samuel Huntington explore some of the political and economic contours and consequences of globalization. Anthropologists are also interested in the process of globalization, and are in a position to offer empirically grounded perspectives on it.
Globalization also poses significant methodological and theoretical challenges.
On a theoretical level, anthropology and other social sciences are challenged by the varieties of globalization. For example, until recently, the concept of culture has implied a sense of autonomous locally-held meanings. We have invited three cultural anthropologists and a geographer who are at the cutting edge of current scholarship on globalization. Each will present a paper and then exchange ideas in a panel discussion, as well as having more informal interactions with faculty and graduate students. We have also invited a film-maker whose documentaries reflect the processes of globalization.