RESPONSE ON 'DIFFERENCE AND DISJUNCTURE IN THE GLOBAL CULTURAL ECONOMY' by Arjun Appadurai
Arjun Appadurai introduces us to a new way to look at ‘Globalisation’. He says that Globalisation is simply the disjuncture between five different ‘scapes’: ethnoscape, ‘technoscape’, ‘finacescape’, mediascape, and ideoscape; which are the movement of people, technology, capital, images, and ideologies respectively. He makes a clear distinction between stability and movement, and suggests that ‘movement’, and not ‘stability, should be made the core of cultural analysis.
He acknowledges the fact that these movements were present earlier too. However, he believes that these movements are much faster now than before. The disjuncture between them is wider and hence Globalisation can be seen in full swing.
He stresses on the fact that flow of media and people has led us to create ‘imagined worlds’. The sense of ‘self’ and identity is destabilized, as people come across shifting images and form their own interpretations of these images. “The imagination”, he says, “is now central to all forms of agency, is itself a social fact, and is the key component of the new global order”. He is pointing towards the fact that we are no longer confined to our home town. Globalisation has eliminated boundaries. For example, in Pakistan, a vast number of people follow Western fashion, however many of them have never been to the West.
Appadurai takes his argument of ‘disjuncture’ further by bringing in the term ‘deterritorialization’. Deterritorialization contrasts with the earlier ideas in anthropology of people having consistent, definite home places. It allows movement and hence plays a very important role in globalisation.
He claims that Globilisation has both positive and negative effects. The negative side is reflected by riots and refugee flows. The positive side is reflected by oral rehydration therapy and other low-tech instruments of well-being. No matter the outcome, the cause is the same, that is, disjuncture between the different global flows.
Appadurai provides an interesting and effective perspective of Globalisation. However, his theory of Globalisation has some shortcomings. He focuses only on difference and disjucture, and ignores other aspects that fuel Globalisation, like reinforcement and mutual causation.
Link to 'DIFFERENCE AND DISJUNCTURE IN THE GLOBAL CULTURAL ECONOMY' by Arjun Appadurai: http://www.arjunappadurai.org/articles/Appadurai_Disjuncture_and_Difference_in_the_Global_Cultural_Economy.pdf
