ABSTRACT
Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization was published as part of a conversation with others working in the same field, when globalization studies was a new academic discipline. The subtitle of the book indicates its intention to address the cultural extent of globalization. Appadurai challenged anthropologists to rethink their methods of studying culture by acknowledging the deterritorialization of people and cultural practices brought about by globalization. For Appadurai, acknowledging the importance of culture is crucial to economic analyses of globalization for at least three reasons. First, while economic analyses present globalization as a smooth process, cultural analyses call attention to instability, diversity, and difference. Second, economic analyses often predict homogenization, arguing that the world is becoming smaller and more similar through globalization. Third, economic analyses lack a historical perspective, being too focused on individual activity, which does not sufficiently account for individuals as members of groups and communities with deep histories of nation, place, and identity.
