Cultures Communities Identities

Cultures, Communities, Identities explores a wide range of cultural strategies to promote participation and empowerment in both First and Third World settings. The book starts by analysing contemporary debates on cultures, communities and identities, in the context of globalization. This sets the framework for the discussion of cultural strategies to combat social exclusion and to promote community participation in transformative agendas for local economic and social development. The final chapter focuses upon the use of cultural strategies and new technologies across national boundaries, at the global level.

Cultural identity is a key area of debate in contemporary Europe. Despite widespread use of the past in the construction of ethnic, national and European identity, theories of cultural identity have been neglected in archaeology. Focusing on the interrelationships between concepts of cultural identity today and the interpretation of past cultural groups, Cultural Identity and Archaeology offers proactive archaeological perspectives in the debate surrounding European identities. This fascinating and thought-provoking book covers three key areas. It considers how material remains are used in the interpretation of cultural identities, for example ‘pan-Celtic culture’ and ‘Bronze Age Europe’. Finally, it looks at archaeological evidence for the construction of cultural identities in the European past. The authors are critical of monolithic constructions of Europe, and also of the ethnic and national groups within it. in place of such exclusive cultural, political and territorial entities the book argues for a consideration of the diverse, hybrid and multiple nature of European cultural identities.

This collection of essays addresses the issues and concerns raised by the emphasis on society not as a series of homogeneous interlocking blocks, but as a plethora of different, sometimes overlapping and often conflicting communities. Reflecting, for example, on the experience of the GLC's attempt to create a new "majority of minorities" and on the clash of values and beliefs over "The Satanic Verses," these pieces explore both the opportunities and problems presented by the growing diversity of communities, cultures and identities in contemporary society. Topics covered include: consumerism and the impact of green politics; racism and psychoanalysis; ethics and values; AIDS and citizenship; and feminism and age

Cultural Identity In Transition Analyses The Challenges That Globalisation And Modernisation Have Brought To Cultural Identity In Recent Years. This Collection Of Articles Highlights Some Of The Central Theoretical Ideas And Models Currently Used In The Analysis Of Cultural Identity In The Social And Cultural Sciences.While The Book S Main Regional Focus Is On Northern Europe, This Is Complemented By Several Case Studies Addressing Issues Of Cultural Identity In Indigenous And Ethnic Communities, In Literary And Artistic Expression, And In Terms Of National Politics Around The World.The Book Discusses In Detail The Questions Like : What Is At Stake In The Global Culture Industry In Terms Of Cultural Identity? How Do The Internet And Information Technology In General Empower Local Communities? What Kinds Of Political Struggles And Conflicts Can Be Associated With The Processes Of Cultural Identity? Cultural Identities Are In Transition, But In What Direction Are They Moving?Cultural Identity In Transition Will Be Essential Reading For University Students And Researchers In Sociology, Anthropology, And Cultural And Literary Studies.

Language, Culture, Identity and Citizenship in College Classrooms and Communities examines what takes place in writing classrooms beyond academic analytical and argumentative writing to include forms that engage students in navigating the civic, political, social and cultural spheres they inhabit. It presents a conceptual framework for imagining how writing instructors can institute campus-wide initiatives, such as Writing Across Communities, that attempt to connect the classroom and the campus to the students’ various communities of belonging, especially students who have been historically underserved. This framework reflects an emerging perspective—writing across difference—that challenges the argument that the best writing instructors can do is develop the skills and knowledge students need to make a successful transition from their home discourses to academic discourses. Instead, the value inherent in the full repertoire of linguistic, cultural and semiotic resources students use in their varied communities of belonging needs to be acknowledged and students need to be encouraged to call on these to the fullest extent possible in the course of learning what they are being taught in the writing classroom. Pedagogically, this book provides educators with the rhetorical, discursive and literacy tools needed to implement this approach.

This book is about cultural politics and the quest for identity of two marginal communities of Sikkim and Darjeeling – the Lepcha and the Mangar. Sharing insights into the knowledge, aesthetics, aspirations and dreams of two marginal communities who have been innovatively and differentially appropriating ‘culture’ to exploit the politics of difference, it is a narrative about their ethno-cultural consciousness, notions of identity and anxieties over being minority communities in a pluralistic democracy. The narrative is essentially presented in the form of a field-trip diary, with observations and comments which try to situate the issues within a larger perspective. Based on two years of intensive field study, the book chronicles the endeavour of these two communities to reclaim their cultural past, and forge an identity that would ensure material security, self-esteem, dignity and also the fruits of ‘modernity’. The book will be useful to scholars and students of anthropology, sociology, politics and history, especially those engaged in the study of culture and ethnicity in the Eastern Himalayan region.

The new sociology of sexuality has a two-fold aim: to demonstrate how the social shapes the sexual; and to analyse how the sexual in turn becomes a focal point for personal identity, cultural anxiety value debates and political action. Drawing on papers from the 1994 British Sociological Association annual conference on 'Sexualities in Social Context', this volume brings together key contributors to this stimulating new approach. Topics covered include theoretical developments, the relationship between history and contemporary controversies, community and identity, especially in the context of AIDS, value conflicts and changes in the meanings of intimacy. The book as a whole offers a significant intervention into debates on sexuality, and a thoughtful contribution to the broadening of the sociological agenda.

In the USA, minorities such as blacks, Latinos and gays demand a school curriculum that recognizes their identity. Others insist education should instil a common American identity. The author indicates the underlying issues and shows how schools can promote both national and cultural identities.