Globalization and Identity: Dialectics of Flow and Closure

"Globalization" and "Identity" are an explosive combination, demonstrated by recent outbursts of communalist violence in many parts of the world. Their varying articulations highlight the paradox that accelerating global flows of goods, persons and images go together with determined efforts towards closure, emphasis on cultural difference and fixing of identities. This collection explores this paradox of a flowa and a closurea through a series of detailed case studies in comparative perspective.