Identity and Affect: Experiences of Identity in a Globalising World

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John R. Campbell, Alan Rew
Pluto Press, 1999 M02 20 - 306 pages
When forces of globalisation and local culture converge, distinctive social habitats are created. Drawing on detailed case studies of South Asian, East African, Melanesian and European societies, Identity and Affect provides a contextual analysis of the formation and expression of local identities and of the affective self-constitution of social agents. The contributors examine in particular the growing fragmentation of social relations in these areas and the impact this is having on individuals and communities who, forced into an increasingly outward orientation, are initiating processes of cultural redefinition and social realignment.The different effects of colonialism on identity formation are examined in studies of communalism in Sri Lanka, untouchables in India, cargo cults in New Guinea and the substitution of food exchange for cannibalism in Kaluana. Focusing on Italians in London and south Asians in East Africa, the formation and experience of belonging to cultural diaspora is explored from the perspective of the individual and the social collectivity. The authors conclude with an exploration of some of the defining experiences of modernity, specifically how individuals in industrial capitalist societies have come to see their identity as dependent on modern forms of industrial, public sector work.

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Contents

The Political Economy of Identity and Affect
1
Becoming
17
Constructing Identities in Nineteenthcentury Colombo
39
Identity and Change
64
Amity and Enmity
105
Cultural Identities and Development
130
Belonging
167
Narratives about
199
Being
225
Person Work and Place
251
Index
294
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About the author (1999)

John R. Campbell is Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Research Associate at the Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales Swansea. Alan Rew is Professor of Development and Planning in the University of Wales and Director of the Centre for Development Studies at Swansea.

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