Identity, Hybridity and New Ethnicities

Abstract

In the present changing global environment there seem to be two seemingly contradictory trends. On the one hand, there is a wealth of evidence that points towards greater globalisation of economic, social and cultural relations. Increasingly the contemporary world is becoming, to use Marshall McLuhan's phrase, a `global village' (McLuhan, 1964, p. 12). A consequence of this is the transportation of symbols, styles, music and other cultural materials across national boundaries, integrating and connecting communities in new time---space combinations. Some commentators have gone as far as to argue that the tendency towards global integration or globalisation has produced a fascination with the marketing of ethnicity and cultural difference (Robins, 1991). On the other hand, there is also substantive evidence that the increasing integration of networks of communication and cultural contact has not resulted in a weakening of nationalism, racism or narrowly defined ethnic identities. Indeed it could be argued that ethnic and national conflicts promise to be as destructive in the twenty-first century as in previous periods. There are signs that places as diverse as Bosnia, Rwanda, Britain and Germany may experience ethnic and racial confrontation at an unparalleled level over the next few decades.