Pre-class Appadurai

I have to agree with Clem in saying that Appadurai does a great job in identifying all the theorists and linking them together.

This is what i got out of Modernity at large: cultural Dimensions of Globalization

Appadurai argues that the most constructive feature of using the concept of the cultural is the concept of difference. He defines difference as a contrastive rather than substantive property of certain things. Appadurai sees its main virtue in being a useful set of rules that are capable of highlighting points of similarity and contrast between an array categories such as classes, genders, roles, groups, and heritage. Describing the cultural dimension of something infancies the idea of situated difference (difference in relation to something local, embodied, and significant). I really liked how Devon put it in her blog post. "I think, often times, especially as students that are, for the most part, well-off and from upper-middle class backgrounds, we are ignorant of the fact that people exist outside of our own circumstances and that the experience we take part in as American citizens is by no means the norm around the world." I strongly feel the same way and i don't think theres a better way to put it. We are so inclosed in our own world that most of us are oblivious to what life is outside ours. We must search for a difference to better understand how we are inside.