Chapter 27

1. Chapter 27 Global Challenges, Local Responses, andthe Role of Anthropology

2. 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?

3. 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.”

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. “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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.