Chapter 27

Global Challenges, Local Responses, andthe 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

opportunitiesForced- 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 Flowsin 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 non-state 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 co-optive 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.