Global Crossroads Research Articles

“América Latina en la encrucijada global” de Claudio Katz

Review of "Latin America at the Global Crossroads" by Claudio Katz

다문화사회의 상호문화성에 대한 전망

In the history of civilization, the world history of the past 200 years has left a mark in the history of the global expansion of Western civilization and the struggles of non-Western countries. And in the 21st century, Korea's multicultural phenomenon, which was formed at the crossroads of radical globalization economically, politically, and culturally, is also operating surrounded by the axis of Western civilization universalism. Accordingly, in the midst of globalization, ‘practice multiculturalism’ and ‘social integration’ have become important tasks in Korean society due to the influx of labor migrants and marriage migrants. However, in reality, there are social and historical weaknesses in Korea's compressed modernization that prevent the community from maturing as a multicultural society. This is not only because the Western sociality that enables representative politics of civil society, the basis of Western universalism, and the rule of law, that is, rational liberal democracy, has not fully matured in Korean society, but also because of the inherent vulnerability of globalized multiculturalism.
 The term ‘multicultural society’, which is used in various senses, has its origins in the immigration policy managed by the state, and has a large state-led political connotation as it has legal elements at the border management level. In Western history, it is an ideology that was created with the problem of post-colonialism following the immigration crisis. However, the mutual interference between the global economy and cultural activities at an ever-increasing pace is forming a super-complex social system. Among these direct and indirect influences, the movement of population, movement of labor, and flow of goods and capital have brought about rapid cultural transformation and conflict around the world under the advanced information technology system. Therefore, Western universalism requires the fusion of new civilizations from the perspective of the universal history of human civilization.
 This study examines the special characteristics of Korea's multicultural society within the mechanical arrangement of globalization and seeks the possibility of building the integration of a multicultural society based on the ideology of 'interculturality'. We will also highlight that the practice of cultural diversity implies a deep awareness of the diversity of life and the prospect for a universal civilization of humanity.

Roda and Terreiro: The Historiography of Brazil’s Visual Arts at the Crossroads of Globalization

The article focuses on Brazil’s visual arts historiography from the 1990s onwards when institutions in Europe and the U.S. began to present Brazil’s art more frequently amid the growing globalization of the art system. Edge cases are highlighted to demonstrate how scholars based outside Brazil are helping to build a canon of that country’s visual arts that contrasts and surpasses the canon of Brazil’s visual arts outlined in Brazil’s collections, exhibitions, publications, and scholarly production. The image of roda (circle) in Ronald Duarte’s Nimbo/Oxalá and Ricardo Basbaum’s image/idea of “terreiro de encontros” (terrace of encounters) are proposed as Afro-Brazilian references with which to face the challenges of these historiographic crossroads.

Migration, Transnationalism, and Faith in Missiological Perspective: Los Angeles as a Global Crossroads, edited by Kirsteen Kim and Alexia Salvatierra

Migration, Transnationalism, and Faith in Missiological Perspective: Los Angeles as a Global Crossroads, edited by Kirsteen Kim and Alexia Salvatierra

The seventeenth-century Spanish Caribbean as global crossroads: transimperial and transregional approaches

The seventeenth-century Spanish Caribbean as global crossroads: transimperial and transregional approaches

Teaching Eighteenth-Century British Literature beyond the Pale

Teaching Eighteenth-Century British Literature beyond the Pale Rebekah Mitsein (bio) In 2017 college students all over the country launched high profile and controversial protests against the tendency to put white art, white culture, and white aesthetics at the center of the humanities classroom. During the now infamous boycott of Humanities 110 at Reed College, for example, students took issue with the fact that the required humanities class focused largely on the translatio studii of intellectual history from the Mediterranean westward. Students argued that the class "perpetuates white supremacy—by centering 'whiteness' as the only required class at Reed."1 Whethe one agrees with these students' tactics, their complaint prodded a sore spot for those of us who teach historical literatures and whose background and training is in specifically Western literary traditions. Although surveys of eighteenth-century literature might include Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative or Phyllis Wheatley's poetry, the discipline is continually haunted by its Eurocentric canon. Even when we are teaching global or colonial texts like Oroonoko or Robinson Crusoe, we often put whiteness at the center of the curriculum, in part because it seems that our authors inevitably put whiteness at the center of their own worlds. In the spring of 2017, I taught an advanced undergraduate seminar called Global Crossroads in Eighteenth-Century British Literature, which I then taught as a graduate seminar in the spring of 2018. In these classes, I experimented with strategies to teach literature written largely by white [End Page 131] British authors from a more global perspective. I paired these canonical texts with material chosen to encourage students to consider how the discourse, narratives, knowledge, aesthetics, or material culture of non-Europeans became central to how eighteenth-century British writers represented the world (table 1). In other words, instead of starting the class from the premise that the British literary tradition invented the way Britons thought about "the global" in the eighteenth century, we examined the ways that global contact created the British literary tradition. This was a time, after all, when British travelers, readers, and writers were pushing their own intellectual, geographical, and cultural boundaries. There is no reason to assume that this global context—and the figures and discourses that animate this global context—did not have an impact on the British literary imagination. The course material I chose to illustrate the scale of these crossroads fell into three broad categories. The first category included global texts to which eighteenth-century Western readers had access, either as translations or epitomes, like the writings of early modern Arabic and North African geographers or the Ethiopian story of the Queen of Sheba retold by Hiob Ludolf and James Bruce. The second category included reports from European travel narratives of local informants describing their own cultures (embedded narratives) and reports of local arts and acts of self-representation (music, ritual, or dancing). The third category included non-alphabetic texts and material culture (art objects, artifacts, maps, textiles, goods created specifically for export to Europe, etc.). The organizational structure of the syllabus classified some texts as Western or British and others through the sweeping oppositional categories of non-Western, or non-European, which was in a way antithetical to the aims of the course; however, this structure also served as a concrete example of the paradigm the course was meant to push against and provided an opportunity to discuss the limitations of well-intentioned multicultural approaches to creating an inclusive reading list, neither of which were self-evident to my students. In other words we were not equipped to fully dispense with such geopolitical binaries, but we practiced recognizing them and then using the course readings, assignments, and discussions to sketch out alternatives to them. Students responded to prompts on Canvas (an online learning management system with a built-in discussion board) that asked them how exposure to this range of materials encouraged them to think differently about the European texts on the syllabus. For example, I paired Oroonoko with a translation of François d'Elbée's description of the luxurious Fon court at Ardra, along with lists of goods published by John Ogilby and Richard Hakluyt that were most...

The Sasak People of Lombok: Indigenous Communities at The Crossroads of Globalization

This article focuses on changes that have taken place among Lombok’s indigenous communities, including Sasak Bayan, Sasak Sade, and Sasak Ende. This study found that in the context of thick globalization where information technology is the driving force, the indigenous communities are no longer as the objects of the global cultural market. Instead, they are given the freedom to choose and sort out values that they consider good and appropriate with their needs. In addition, they also exercise the freedom of expression. However, the problem lies in the fact that their choices and ways of expressions are quite often violating old loyalties they have agreed. The communities of Sasak Bayan, Sasak Sade and Sasak Ende provide important information on how indigenous communities respond creatively to globalization based on their needs.

Turkey and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: Economic Pragmatism meets Geopolitics

AbstractThis article explores Turkey's expectations for the AIIB as a new multilateral development bank (MDB) and examines the projects that the AIIB has financed in Turkey so far. The main argument is that economic pragmatism, national developmental needs, and geopolitical motivations together explain Turkey's interest in the AIIB. Ankara initially hoped to attract funds from the AIIB for its connectivity projects in Eurasia. Ankara has also seen the AIIB as an important contributor to its long‐standing goal of enhancing Turkey's national energy supply security. The Bank's lending in Turkey has so far concentrated on energy sector projects. As of 2019, Turkey is the third largest recipient of AIIB loans. From a geopolitical perspective, Ankara's interest in the AIIB is part of its recent pivot to Eurasia and its self‐identification as a rising power with a growing regional and global crossroads agenda. As such, Ankara's expectations for the AIIB are also evolving as the Bank's own agenda is becoming more concrete and as Turkey makes these shifts in its geostrategic positioning.

Weaving value: Selling carpets in the liminal space of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

All around the world, places of trade are typically conceived as places of deceit, if not outright danger: the plight of the carpet seller in Istanbul might be likened to that of the used car salesman in the West, for instance. But Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is a particularly well‐known centre of (perceived) deceit – the home of the trickster par excellence – and carpet sellers are the iconic bearers of this reputation. As a threshold of thresholds, the bazaar is a global crossroads, where a huge diversity of cultures and histories intersect, and carpets are objects that express this perhaps the most magnificently.

Book review: Intersections of Religion and Migration: Issues at the Global Crossroads

Book review: Intersections of Religion and Migration: Issues at the Global Crossroads

International Security at the Crossroads of Globalization

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Economies of the City: Honolulu’s Financial Plaza of the Pacific

This paper concerns one monumental architectural structure that defined Honolulu’s business economy and approaches to urban planning in the Central Business District (CBD) during the 1960s – the Financial Plaza of the Pacific. As indicated from its moniker, the design and construction of the edifice highlighted Hawai‘i’s physical location as a global crossroads. The international vision of this “commercial condominium”, and by extension Honolulu, addressed the effects of urban blight and suburban flight that plagued the CBD in the years leading up to, and following, U.S. statehood. The merger of three corporate enterprises (Castle & Cooke, Bank of Hawaii, and American Savings and Loan) at the Financial Plaza of the Pacific functioned as means to display corporate reinvestment in the district. The architects of the project, Leo S. Wou & Associates and Victor Gruen Associates, desired to create a spatially unified environment with outdoor public space and art projects as loci for human interaction. Ultimately, the Financial Plaza of the Pacific reveals the ways in which Honolulu operated – and continues to operate – as a living city spurred by enterprise and revitalization.

National Priorities for 2016: At the Global Crossroads: Canada's Trade Priorities for 2016

Canada must look to trade to boost future economic growth and prosperity in the face of current challenges, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “At the Global Crossroads: Canada’s Trade Priorities for 2016,” author Daniel Schwanen lays out four priorities for Canada’s trade agenda in 2016.

The Crises and Crossroads of Globalization- U.S./Mexico Borderlands

The Crises and Crossroads of Globalization- U.S./Mexico Borderlands

Health Policy in Asia and the Pacific: Navigating Local Needs and Global Challenges

Asia and the Pacific is undergoing a remarkable economic transformation, which is occurring at an exceptional pace. There is clear evidence of an equally rapid epidemiological transition in the region. This article sets out the policy challenges of building healthy societies in the context of rapid economic change. The region’s location at the crossroads of contemporary globalization, resulting in intensified population mobility, large-scale trade and investment, and pressures to take collective action on shared problems, adds to the complexity of this task. The article argues that health is integral to building stable and sustainable societies, and that there are opportunities to develop more holistic approaches that bring together hitherto separate policy spheres.

Health policy in Asia and the Pacific: Navigating local needs and global challenges.

Asia and the Pacific are undergoing a remarkable economic transformation which is occurring at an exceptional pace. There is clear evidence of an equally rapid epidemiological transition in the region. This paper sets out the policy challenges of building healthy societies in the context of rapid economic change. The region's location at the crossroads of contemporary globalization, resulting in intensified population mobility, large-scale trade and investment, and pressures to take collective action on shared problems, adds to the complexity of this task. The paper argues that health is integral to building stable and sustainable societies, and that there are opportunities to develop more holistic approaches that bring together hitherto separate policy spheres.

A Poetic of Contradictions?. HIV/AIDS Interventions at the Crossroads of Localization and Globalization

A Poetic of Contradictions?. HIV/AIDS Interventions at the Crossroads of Localization and Globalization

Assessing the Risks of Conflict in the South China Sea

In exploring hidden risks to the international system, this issue has covered a variety of functional, regional, and theoretical topics; however, with U.S. foreign policy focus shifting to Asia, it is not surprising that many authors draw their attention to the South China Sea. Marvin Ott’s “Southeast Asia’s Strategic Landscape,” Charles Doran’s “Power Cycle Theory and the Ascendance of China,” Chris Ford’s “Soft on Soft Power,” and Ian Bremmer’s interview all touch in some way on potential conflict in the South (and East) China Seas. As Sino-Taiwanese relations warm following the January 2012 re-election of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who has made strengthening ties with the mainland a priority of his administration, the South China Sea will become the preeminent focus of U.S.-China watchers who study potential military clashes between the two countries. Given the shifting attention to the issue, the risk of conflict in the South China Sea is not particularly “hidden.” Indeed, over the last two years, the United States has paid increasing attention to the region, most evident by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s reassertion of U.S. interests there at the ASEAN ministerial meetings in Hanoi in July 2010 1 and President Obama’s emphasis of the same concerns at the November 2011 East Asia Summit. 2 The essential dynamics are well-covered by popular media and clearly understood from traditional theories of international relations: a rising power, China, competes with a status quo hegemon, the United States, for influence in a complicated multipolar regional context across a variety of military, diplomatic, and economic fronts. The South China Sea is particularly well-suited for such competition as, beyond its large economic and strategic importance as a global crossroads, it is a source of vast, untapped natural resources. Though the overarching risk of tension in the South China Sea is not hidden, policymakers in Washington should be clear on the actual dangers posed by conflict as they begin to consider future U.S. competition with

The Early Morning Phone Call: Somali Refugee’s Remittances (review)

Reviewed by: The Early Morning Phone Call: Somali Refugee’s Remittances Jeffrey H. Cohen Anna Lindley, The Early Morning Phone Call: Somali Refugee’s Remittances. New York: Berhahn Books, 2010. 197 pp. In The Early Morning Phone Call, Anna Lindley uses her research with Somalis living in the diaspora and others living in Somalia proper to effectively explore the complexities of remittance practice and outcomes. Lindley mixes economic data, ethnography, history, and transnational theory among other things to capture the ambivalence that surrounds remitting and the difficulties that face Somali migrants as well as Somalis who remain in their homes and communities. The result is a book that should find a broad audience, from readers interested in remittance outcomes to those with a concern for Somali migrants, refugees, and stay-at-homes as their history continues to unwind. Lindley engages with several important debates that confront migration specialists. Among these are a concern for the use, meaning, and role of remittances for movers, refugees, and non-movers; the implications of remittances for development; and the role of remittances in the Somali conflict. The history of Somalia, ongoing conflict, and the diaspora that has relocated Somalis throughout the world makes it difficult to compartmentalize and characterize remittance outcomes using traditional categories. Thus, Lindley problematizes the very concept of remittances. She argues we need to move beyond dichotomous systems that frame social actors as movers and non-movers, remittances as good or bad, and the focus of remittance practices as family or community. The first two chapters of the book set the stage for Lindley’s argument. In chapter one, she recounts current models for the discussion of migration and notes that dichotomies which split the outcomes of migration and remittance practice into discrete categories (such as good and bad) often fail to capture the dynamics of individuals sending remittances as [End Page 1039] well as the unanticipated outcomes as those remittances are defined by local socio-cultural practices. In chapter two, Lindley turns her attention to Somali history and the collapse of the nation; the diaspora and migration; conflict and civil war. She also notes the varying roles remittances play. While remittances generally go to the support of a sending household, the importance of extended kin and the nature of Somali kinship mean that remittances are spread much farther afield and engage the development of transnational space through which identity is defined. The central ethnographic examples that support Lindley’s argument focus on remittance practices in three different settings: the impacts for Hargeisa, Somalia (chapter three); sending and receiving in Eastleigh, Nairobi (chapter four); and the politics of remittances, migration, and identity for the Somali diaspora in London, England (chapter five). The realities of Somali remittance practices “challenges international models of conflict resolution and development…[and] illustrates the highly transnational dimensions of economic activity in the shadow of conflict…” (86–87). Diasporic communities are often described as dangerous and belligerent. They harbor radicals and support investment in conflict. Yet, as Lindley effectively shows, remittance practices are dynamic, shifting in relation and response to the changing nature of the conflict as well as the role that locals and members of the diaspora play. Thus, while money does flow to support militias, it more often flows to support families, cover expenses (schooling, health care), and build businesses. In chapter four, Lindley moves from Somalis who are in their home country to those living in Eastleigh, a neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya often referred to as “little Mogadishu.” In a sense, Eastleigh sits between the world of Hargeisa, on the one hand, and London, on the other. Lindley describes it as a “global crossroads” (109), both a destination and a point of transfer. People come to Eastleigh and often plan to continue on to destinations in Europe and elsewhere, nevertheless, for many travelers, Eastleigh becomes home. Yet, even as Eastleigh becomes home, there are few opportunities and Somalis (like so many other migrants) find themselves caught between their status, the state, and petty (as well as not so petty) conflicts and violence. Thus, many Somalis in Eastleigh can only survive through the support of migrants who have settled in other areas with better opportunities. Lindley...

Public Art at the Global Crossroads: The Politics of Place in 1930s Los Angeles

The relationship of art to place is pronounced in Los Angeles, a world center for the production and projection of visual culture. The historical pursuit of a unifying civic identity grounded in both the arts and assumptions of white Anglo homogeneity led to a fraught public art history as excluded cultural groups fought for a vital stake in Los Angeles's self-representation. As an era when civic resources were challenged and the Federal Arts Project infused new life into public culture, the decade of the 1930s provides an especially ripe opportunity to examine the clash between a conservative, booster vision of Los Angeles and the city as imagined by foreign, ethnic and immigrant artists. This article focuses on artworks by David Siqueiros, Myer Shaffer, and Sabato Rodia and argues that in trying to project a specific (and narrow) image of Los Angeles globally, civic elites ultimately provoked these artists into fundamentally reinterpreting the local. Localized art meant something valuable and they resisted a flawed and false separation of art from place. In laying bare the significance of local places and local histories, these artists produced, in effect, poignant monuments to radical visions of social equality, economic justice, and cultural diversity.