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Journal ArticleDOI

Beyond global modernity, global consciousness and global governmentality: The symmetrical anthropology of globalization

Jean-Sébastien Guy
- 13 Jun 2016 - 
- Vol. 19, Iss: 4, pp 451-467
TLDR
The symmetrical anthropology of globalization is proposed in this paper, where the authors combine the research strategies developed by Bruno Latour and Niklas Luhmann to problematize how we interpret the world when discussing globalization.
Abstract
The article combines the research strategies developed by Bruno Latour and Niklas Luhmann to problematize how we interpret the world when discussing globalization. Two previous approaches – global modernity and global consciousness – interpret the world as completely objective (nature transcends culture). Another approach – global governmentality – interprets the world as completely subjective (culture transcends nature). Against these approaches, this article proposes a new one: the symmetrical anthropology (or sociology) of globalization. Inspired by Latour’s variable ontologies, it considers multiple descriptions of the world and multiple descriptions of society simultaneously. It considers globalization as one description of society and searches for the description of the world corresponding to it. It distinguishes three descriptions of the world: (1) the world as natural order; (2) the world as external object; and (3) the world as levels of organization. It is argued that the description of the worl...

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Citations
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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The global animus: in the tracks of world consciousness

TL;DR: This article examined how ways of thinking and feeling, that bear in certain ways close correspondence to modern ideas as to "globality" were prevalent amongst certain social groups in the Roman empire.
Journal ArticleDOI

From self-reference to autology: how to operationalize a circular approach:

TL;DR: One of the most innovative features of Niklas Luhmann's theory resides in its allegedly circular construction: it starts from the assumption that even a theory of society itself is but a part of the object (society) that it aims to explain.
Book ChapterDOI

Globalization in and out, or “how can there be a constructivist theory of globalization?”

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that even though social constructivism could contribute to our understanding of globalization, notably by stressing the role of language and cultural norms in the organization of collective activities on a world scale, it could not satisfactorily account in its own terms for the entire phenomena under examination, due to the fact that globalization is not solely or even primarily about language or cultural norms.
Journal ArticleDOI

Why does society describe itself as global? Re-examining the relation between globalization and the states from a second-order perspective

TL;DR: In this article, a second-order perspective is used to re-examine the relation between globalization and sovereign states. But the authors do not address the problem of comparing sovereign states with other sovereign states for the purpose of determining what is global at present moment in time.
Trending Questions (1)
What is the difference between globalization and modernity in anthropology?

The paper does not provide a direct answer to the question. The word "globalization" is mentioned in the paper, but it is not explicitly compared to "modernity" in anthropology. The paper focuses on proposing a new approach called the symmetrical anthropology of globalization.