Globalization and Belonging

Front Cover
Globalization and Belonging′s headline message - that place matters, that locality remains vital to people, is arresting′ - Frank Webster, Professor of Sociology, City University, London

Drawing on long-term empirical research into cultural practices, lifestyles and identities, Globalization and Belonging explores how far-reaching global changes are articulated locally.

The authors address key sociological issues of stratification as analysis alongside ′cultural′ issues of identity, difference, choice and lifestyle. Their original argument:

" Shows how globalisation theory conceives of the ′local′

" Reveals that people have a sense of elective belonging based on where they choose to put down roots

" Suggests that the feel of a place is much more strongly influenced by the values and lifestyles of those migrating to it

" reinvigorates debates in urban and community studies by recovering the ′local′ as an intrinsic aspect of globalisation

Theoretically rigorous, the book is brought to life with direct quotations from the authors′ research, and appeals to students in urban sociology, urban geography, media studies and cultural studies.

 

Contents

Chapter 1 Global Change and Local Belonging
1
Chapter 2 The Limits of Local Attachment
29
Chapter 3 Parenting Education and Elective Belonging
54
Chapter 4 Suburbia and the Aura of Place
78
Manchester so much to answer for
106
Chapter 6 Work Cultures and Social Ties
131
Chapter 7 Mediacapes in the Mediation of the Local and the Global
153
Chapter 8 Cosmopolitanism Diaspora and Global Reflexivity
181
Conclusion
203
List of Interviews
209
References
215
Name Index
226
Subject Index
229
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

Gaynor Bagnall is a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Culture. Her research and teaching focus primarily on culture, consumption, social class and identity, and in particular social and cultural capital, culture-led regeneration, social and cultural life in cities, and audiences, museums, memory and heritage. She has researched and published widely on these topics, with work ranging from an investigation into the performativity of museum audiences, to an exploration of what it means to belong ‘locally’ in a global world. Currently, she is working on two research projects, Writing Lives: ‘Engaging Communities through Arts’ is funded by HEFCE and aims to examine the use of creative writing workshops as a form of culture-led regeneration. It explores their role as a means for the expression of identities, and as a facilitator of community cohesion and belonging. ‘Experiencing: The Imperial War Museum North’ is an examination of visitor responses to IWMN that looks at how people articulate their experience of the museum by drawing on particular biographical resources and narrative strategies.

Professor Brian Longhurst is a sociologist who has long standing interests in cultural studies, media studies and the sociology of culture. His books include Popular Music and Society (Polity Press, 1995, 2007), The Penguin Dictionary of Media Studies (co-authored, 2007), Globalization and Belonging (co-authored, Sage, 2005), Introducing Cultural Studies (co-authored, Pearson, 1999, 2004) and Audiences: A Sociological Theory of Performance and Imagination (co-authored 1998). He has held research grants from various bodies including ESRC and EPSRC and has published widely in a range of journals and edited collections. He was formerly Head of the School of English, Sociology, Politics & Contemporary History (ESPaCH), Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Institute for Social Research, all at the University of Salford. He has been a Director of Salford′s prize winning initiative, Community Finance Solutions and was the founding Chair of the Board of East Lancs Moneyline (ELM), a successful Community Reinvestment Trust.

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