Globalization and Culture

Scope

“It is often argued that culture has been a neglected aspect of globalization. John Tomlinson provides us at last with a book which systematically explores the centrality of culture to debates on globalization. He does so with a refreshing clarity in a text which is to be commended for its coherence and accessibility.”

Mike Featherstone, Nottingham Trent University

“It is frequently maintained that discussions of globalization have been marginalized within culture studies. John Tomlinson’s book, Globalization and Culture, contributes to new work that attempts to address this issue and brings a cultural studies approach to the the concept of globalization.”

The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

The book starts with an analysis of the relationship between the globalization process and contemporary culture change and goes on to relate this to debates about social and cultural modernity. At the heart of the book is a far-reaching analysis of the complex, ambiguous “lived experience” of global modernity. Tomlinson argues that we can now see a general pattern of the dissolution between cultural experience and territorial location. The “uneven” nature of this experience is discussed in relation to first and third world societies, along with arguments about the hybridization of cultures, and special role of communications and media technologies in this process of “deterritorialization”. Globalization and Cultureconcludes with a discussion of the cultural politics of cosmopolitanism.

Accessibly written, this book will be of interest to second year undergraduates and above in sociology, media studies, cultural and communication studies, and anyone interested in globalization.