Does anthropology still exist?

Abstract

In response to Roger Sandall's critical analysis, the problematic notion of culture in modern anthropology is examined in terms of cultural resistance to globalization. The example of McDonaldization is taken to be a potent instance of cultural globalization. Three conditions for successful cultural resistance to cultural standardization are proposed. The first is cultural in the shape of a strong aesthetic tradition of (national) resistance. This dimension involves some degree of cultural conservatism. The second condition is political, namely a viable and robust civil society that provides the basis for decisive (cultural) leadership. The third element is the involvement of the state in policies that promote and sustain a national heritage. Without this state involvement, global market conditions will largely shape the erosion of local and national cultures. Without a political response to cultural globalization, global market commodities will in all likelihood oust local goods and services. Those societies that lack both a strong aesthetic and an effective political leadership can offer little effective resistance to negative globalization and their local traditions are quickly destroyed. This argument is then examined in terms of a number of societies especially Turkey, China and Japan where the erosion of national cultures is proceeding rapidly. These critical assertions against global standardization require a strong first-order notion of culture which modern anthropology appears to be unable or unwilling to provide. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008.