Generations and Globalization

"This volume illuminates how families and the communities in which they are enmeshed negotiate everyday lives with the social, cultural, economic, and political resources available to them. It provides an excellent example of how anthropology matters to our understanding of the contemporary world and its global restructuring." ―Karen Tranberg Hansen, Northwestern University

Globalization is not only a large-scale phenomenon: it is also inextricably bound up with intimate aspects of personhood, care, and the daily decisions through which we make our lives. Looking at sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Mexico, the U.S., Europe, India, and China, Generations and Globalization investigates the impact of globalization in the context of families, age groups, and intergenerational relations. The contributors offer an innovative approach that focuses on the changing dynamics between generations, rather than treating changes in childhood, youth, or old age as discrete categories. They argue that new economies and global flows do not just transform contemporary family life, but are in important ways shaped and constituted by it.

Contributors are Jennifer Cole, Deborah Durham, Jessica Greenberg, Sarah Lamb, Julie Livingston, Roger Magazine, Andrea Muehlebach, Martha Areli Ramírez Sánchez, and T. E. Woronov.

Jennifer Cole is Associate Professor of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago.

Deborah Durham is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Sweet Briar College.