Post Blog 11/28

Thankfully, after today’s class discussion I feel I now have a better grasp on Appardurai’s article. His essential argument is that the global cultural economy is growing at an exponential rate. There almost aren’t any countries or cultures that are purely there own. He states, “Cultural transitions between social groups in the past have generally be restricted, sometime by the fact of geography and ecology . . . ” (511). However, “it takes only the merest acquaintance with the facts of the modern world to note that it is now an interactive system in a sense that is strikingly new” (511). This interactive system of which he speaks with “new order and intensity” is congruent with the advancement of technologies. Technology is constantly growing and likewise its advancement effects industry and culture around it. This for example could be anything from advancements transportation of traded commodities to telecommunication satellites. Basically anything that contributes to the ‘shrinking’ of world. He creates 5 concepts for helping understand how this has happens in their respective categories. One example of this can be “technoscapes.” This refers to the technological contributes to the global flow of culture. For example lets say Michael Jackson, an American pop icon. Now I say and American icon, but in reality the majority of people of earth know who he was. Technological advancements in radio, television, Internet etc. has made it so nearly everyone in the world could identify a song if they heard it, and furthermore could even tell you when he dressed like. Appardurai’s has, for all intents and purposes, created a lexicon for which can be used to help understand the global economy and the cultural flow of the postmodern world.