ABSTRACT
The introduction presents the argument that the definition of contemporary globalisation based exclusively on the magnitude of capital and technological prowess results in labels like ‘periphery’ and ‘semi-periphery’ for resource-poor regions. Questioning the linear causal connections postulated between economy and society based exclusively on global capital flows, this chapter foregrounds the significance of social structure and institutions in shaping the character of transformation and the intricate interplays in the relationship between economy and society. In the process, this introduction touches upon the conception of time implicit in the theorisation of change and transformation and engages with concerns about the form and content of networks and the issues with the statement that globalisation is likely to lead to global consciousness and global society. The introduction sets out the themes under which chapters in this collection, in many different ways, address these concerns. It explains how the chapters supply alternative perspectives by drawing attention to the centrality of provincial capital, highlighting the role of traditional artisanal skills and community networks in the generation of provincial capital; describing new societal roles, institutional forms and new social movements that deflect, recast or selectively absorb global models and discourses and discussing how digital and internet technologies thrive on the social fabric, bridging community and commerce even as they give rise to new subjectivities and participative agency to users who inhabit multiple worlds of audiovisual productions.
