The Anthropology of Globalization (Fall 2023)

This course is an introduction from an anthropological perspective to recent theories and debates about the nature of "globalization". What is "globalization"? Why has this term become so prevalent in social theory and popular discourse in the past 40 years? What competing worldviews and political economic visions does it encompass? Beginning with influential debates outside of anthropology, we move quickly to consider the criticisms and alternatives offered by anthropologists and their interlocutors since the late 1980s especially. Drawing on theoretical literature, ethnographies, and award-winning films on capitalism and changing transregional relations at a variety of scales, discussions and multi-media assignments will address some of the most pressing and conflictual issues facing humankind today. How new are the transregional processes labeled "globalization"? What is the nature of capitalism in a so-called "postcolonial" or "neoliberal" or "neo-feudal" era? Are we now in an era of "post-Globalization"? How are new forms of infrastructure, networks, economic development and exploitation connecting different regions of the world? What forms of social and spatial mobility are emerging? Who or what are the main agents, beneficiaries and casaulties of these processes? What are the roles of both national states and transnational organizations and associations in these changes? How are forms of racial, ethnic, gender and class difference constructed through these processes? What alternatives and resistances have emerged? While course readings and films will touch on perspectives from a variety of disciplines, the course is designed to provide a specifically anthropological lens on these issues.

Learning Outcomes

After taking this course, students should be able to:

  • Grasp and describe the basic premises of contemporary economic anthropology.
  • Understand the nature, history and stakes of anthropological debates about "Globalization".
  • Define "Globalization" as a specific, historically situated concept, in contradistinction to other related concepts.
  • Apply economic anthropological theories and methods to their own writing and media projects.
  • Gain a basic understanding of the importance of multimodal ethnographic engagement and media creation.
  • Gain a basic understanding of how to integrate text with image, audio and video media in their own media creations.

Distribution Requirements:
This course can be used to fulfill one of your Group II "History and Social Science" distribution requirements. It accomplishes the following learning outcomes for the group:

  • Evaluate data and/or sources
  • Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other
  • Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.