William D. Coleman

In a world of flux, as old territorial borders dissolve and new nations come together, who controls ideas, information, and creativity? Who patrols the new frontiers? This volume opens a window to the dark side of globalization and the struggles for autonomy it has generated from forest disputes to Indigenous land claims to conflicts between farmers and the patent owners of genetically modified seeds. The work of Palestinian poets, whose attachment to the land is explored in a powerful Coda, shows that a politics of place brings to the fore intense feelings of attachment, something common to all struggles over territory and autonomy.

Struggles over Autonomy

Property, Territory, Globalization

John C. Weaver

Stephen M. Streeter

Globalization is one of the most significant developments of our time. But which elements of contemporary globalization and forms of autonomy are novel and which are merely continuations of long-standing trends? This book brings together a distinguished group of scholars who focus on historical moments that involved the establishment or protection of autonomy, moments that inevitably involved friction. By examining the dialectic between globalization and autonomy at historical junctures ranging from the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1720 to the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev that led to the end of the Cold War, this volume provides novel insights into the changes overtaking our contemporary world.

Moments in the History of Globalization

Empires and Autonomy

Diana Brydon

Faced with finding a livable response to globalization, many communities are renegotiating their identities and functions and, in some instances, entirely new communities are being formed. Renegotiating Community asks what happens to the autonomy of individuals and communities under the influence of globalization. Original case studies show how a range of communities are renegotiating the meanings of community and autonomy while living with, and sometimes challenging, the processes of globalization. By addressing the coercive and comforting dimensions of community – as well as the need to reconcile conflicting claims to autonomy – this book redraws the conceptual maps through which community, globalization, and autonomy are understood.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Global Contexts

Renegotiating Community

Imre Szeman

Petra Rethmann

Globalization has challenged concepts such as local culture and cultural autonomy. And the rampant commodification of cultural products has challenged the way we define culture itself. Have these developments transformed the relationship between culture and autonomy? Have traditional notions of cultural autonomy been recast? This book showcases the work of scholars who employ a broad definition of culture to trace how issues of cultural autonomy have played out in various arenas, including literary criticism, indigenous societies, the Slow Food movement, and skateboarding culture. Although they focus on the marginalized issue of autonomy, they reveal that globalization has both limited as well as created new forms of cultural autonomy.

William D. Coleman

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