Consuming Cultures

Cultural commentator Jeremy Seabrook looks at the threat to cultural diversity and integrity all around the globe, including in Western societies. The hurtling speed of the global market knows no cultural boundaries. Languages, customs, rituals and myths – the building-blocks of local culture and identity – are swept aside with the global market's promise of security and prosperity. Is this promise false? asks Seabrook. Is the survival of pockets of local culture true resistance, or does it mean that identity has been commoditized to the point that it is reduced to a backdrop of 'picturesque' colour? Can communities reclaim the value of local cultural identity? Harnessing moving personal testimonies of cultural loss and resistance, Seabrook embarks upon a wide-ranging and sensitive exploration of the battleground between local and global.