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Summary Book review of Eriksen's Overheating (CA3/CA4)
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Book review of Eriksen's Overheating, which was graded with a 7,5.
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Cultural Anthropology 4: globalization and sociocultural complexity - Book review 'Overheating' (Eriksen)
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Bookreview Overheating, ISBN: 9780745336343 Cultural Anthropology 4: History And Theory Of Anthropology (201100013)
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Samenvatting CA3 (nu CA4): Overheating van Thomas Eriksen
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Global issues and accelerated change through an anthropological lensCultural Anthropology 4: Globalization & Sociocultural complexity
Word count: 1080
06-06-2021
Eriksen, T.H. (2016). Overheating : An Anthropology of Accelerated Change. London: Pluto Press.
192 pages, paper, €24,59, ISBN: 9780745336343
Eriksen his work is based on the notion that the high intensity of interconnected rapid change is
characterizing for our present age and can lead to dramatic consequences. Through a focus on energy,
mobility, cities, waste and information he tries to create a theoretical framework on how unexpected
directions and developments within these sectors can be understood and have great impact on the
world we know. Eriksen uses these dimensions of material to create a better understanding of his
overarching conceptualization of an overheating world, which he thinks is partly caused by the
indelible mark that humanity has left upon the planet during the age of the Anthropocene; a geological
era that suggests that human activity has caused worldwide climate change, even in places where no
human ever has set foot. Although Eriksen is an anthropologist himself, he decides not to confine
himself strictly with anthropological research methods, because of its general lack of historical depth,
societal breadth and culturally relativistic nature. Nevertheless, he thinks ethnographic field research is
far superior to other social science method for understanding local perceptions on globalization, but
fails to tackle the study of global interconnectedness. That’s why Eriksen clearly decided to alternate
between a local-centered anthropological perspective and a more holistic approaches originating from
other social sciences.
In doing so he stresses the importance of studying 'clashing scales' in understanding globalization,
which he explains in a chapter dedicated to his conceptual inventory. Eriksen thinks that the immense
and determinative nature of large scale decisions within this globalized world tend to create a certain
diversion from the actuality of many conflicts by turning them into abstract issues. He thinks that the
abstraction, clashing and scale of these issues lead to paradoxes and contradictions (‘double binds’)
instead of being caused by malevolent intentions of some sort. A rather refreshing take on the nature
of global conflict, since the recent uprising of post-truth conspiracy movements is actively trying to
shift the gear back. Eriksen also considers neoliberalist ideology to be a big part in causing
overheating effects, because of its never-ending quest for profit maximization and upscaling
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