Global culture individual identity : searching for home in the cultural supermarket

Most people still think of themselves as belonging to a particular culture. Yet today, many of us who live in affluent societies choose aspects of our lives from a global cultural supermarket, whether in terms of food, the arts or spiritual beliefs. So if roots are becoming simply one more consumer choice, can we still claim to possess a fundamental cultural identity? Global Culture/Individual Identity focuses on three groups for whom the tension between a particular national culture and the global cultural supermarket is especially acute: Japanese artists, American religious seekers and Hong Kong intellectuals after the handover to China. These ethnographic case studies form the basis for a theory of culture which we can all see reflected in our own lives. Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalization, culture and identity in a clear and lively style.

Most people still think of themselves as belonging to a particular culture. Yet today, many of us who live in affluent societies choose aspects of our lives from a global cultural supermarket, whether in terms of food, the arts or spiritual beliefs. So if roots are becoming simply one more consumer choice, can we still claim to possess a fundamental cultural identity?
Global Culture/Individual Identity focuses on three groups for whom the tension between a particular national culture and the global cultural supermarket is especially acute: Japanese artists, American religious seekers and Hong Kong intellectuals after the handover to China. These ethnographic case studies form the basis for a theory of culture which we can all see reflected in our own lives.
Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalization, culture and identity in a clear and lively style.

Most people still think of themselves as belonging to a particular culture. Yet today, many of us who live in affluent societies choose aspects of our lives from a global cultural supermarket, whether in terms of food, the arts or spiritual beliefs. So if roots are becoming simply one more consumer choice, can we still claim to possess a fundamental cultural identity?
Global Culture/Individual Identity focuses on three groups for whom the tension between a particular national culture and the global cultural supermarket is especially acute: Japanese artists, American religious seekers and Hong Kong intellectuals after the handover to China. These ethnographic case studies form the basis for a theory of culture which we can all see reflected in our own lives.
Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalization, culture and identity in a clear and lively style. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 On the meanings of culture......Page 14 What in the world is Japanese? On the cultural identities of kotoists, calligraphers, bebop pianists, and punk rockers......Page 43 What in the world is American? On the cultural identities of evangelical Christians, spiritual searchers, and Tibetan Buddhists......Page 89 What in the world is Chinese? On the cultural identities of Hong Kong intellectuals in the shadow and wake of 1 July 1997......Page 134 Searching for home in the cultural supermarket......Page 179 Notes......Page 211 Select bibliography......Page 227 Index......Page 236 Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalisation, culture and identity in a clear and lively style. His book will be an illuminating and valuable read to social and cultural anthropologists and students.