ABSTRACT
One of the faces of globalization which is becoming more and more common, is the globalization of insults, frequently corroborated by clashes between different sets of cultural values, in this case the confrontation between Scandinavian feminism and the male honour code characteristic of Afghan society. In the current era of global modernity, by contrast, 'former tribals' use classic anthropological texts to learn about their own culture and as documentation to combat Western stereotypes about them, and draw on transnational rights discourses in order to strengthen their case. On the instantaneously interconnected planet on which people now live, twelve cartoons published in a Danish newspaper may result in global outrage and lead to anything from sharp editorials to violent street demonstrations, from Indonesia to Morocco. One of the cartoonists used the competition as a pretext for criticizing Jyllands-Posten's antagonistic approach to religious pluralism in Denmark. Cosmopolitanism may degenerate into missionary liberalism but it may also degenerate into indifference.
