Introduction

Ritual is an increasingly contested and expanding arena for resistance, negotiation and the affirmation of identity. As global markets bring diverse groups into different forms of contact, so these groups strive to determine their present interests and future identities by controlling representations that range from live performance to hypermedia. Such extensions of ritual action raise important questions about the relationship of local culture to global politics, which in turn affect our understanding of the nature of groups and cultures, and the disciplinary boundaries between anthropology, media studies and performance studies.