Global Markets vs. Local Realities Essay examples -- Consumption Econo

Global Markets vs. topical anesthetic RealitiesWhat happens to commodities when they cross cultural borders? Howes recent edited volume, Cross-Cultural Consumption, chastises out explicitly to answer this very question. Through a diverse and highly loving set of collected papers, inspired and adapted from a special have intercourse of Anthropogie et Sociitis on Culture and Consumption, the reader finds an excellent introduction to the major themes in the anthropological approach to consumption. Situated squarely within the booming belles-lettres on the globalization of consumer society, the papers in this volume are expressly geared towards students of consumer studies from a range of disciplines. Howes makes his objectives clear - this book is actually intend as a teaching tool (p.8), which likely accounts for its notable clarity. remote many similar ventures, Howes et. al.s pedagological approach allows him to openly pose a set of ethical questions by way of conclusion, chal lenging the reader to actively recoil on the issues raised in the various chapters. That cultures and goods stand in a relation of complex interdependence (p.1), is by now a widely recognized feature of consumer studies in anthropology. Using this perspective as premise, the papers in this volume address the interface amid the local and the global. Ulf Hannerzs usual Creolization Paradigm provides the appropriate framework for discussion. After rejecting the polar extremes of global homogenization and local fragmentation, Howes reifies another persistent dichotomy that real and constructed distinction between the West and the rest. Although the world of commodity flows presents multiple opportunities for various border crossings, it is this simple division... ...early the full range of themes which make up the corpus of anthropological studies of consumption, the authors fall in to some extent the coherence a more limited bemuse might have produced. Taken together, the chap ters in this work are evenhandedly uneven in terms of quality and content. As it stands, the book requires a more comprehensive conclusion than that provided. However, despite the criticisms presented here, this volume on the in all does successfully accomplish its objectives. The issues raised are clear and comprehensive and the personalised flavor of many of the chapters help make the issues more accessible and fast to the first-time reader. I would certainly recommend it as an introductory reader for students arouse in consumption. Source CitedCross Cultural Consumption Global Markets local Realities David Howes, ed. London Routledge 1996