Situating globality

"Situating Globality challenges the dominant view according to which globalization is a primary threat to African societies and cultures. It explores how, in the face of declining economies, Africans, far from being passive and victimized, exercise their agency in situating globality, i.e. in selectively and creatively appropriating elements of the emerging global culture.

The book argues the significance of this appropriation in ongoing local struggles, the expression of critical thinking, ideologies, and ritual styles of behaviour. Situating Globality straddles the divide between anthropological and philosophical representations of Africa in the new world order.

It combines a focus on micro-level processes of strategic cultural appropriation, with explorations of reflexivity, creativity and the production of knowledge. The first section examines philosophical issues relating to the production of knowledge in and about Africa from a globalizing perspective, while the subsequent sections include case studies showing how these processes are accommodated in everyday life.

This volume should be of great value to all readers interested in the study of cultural globalization from the perspectives of anthropology, philosophy, cultural studies, political science and international relations."--Jacket.