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Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems. Aihwa Ong and Stephen J. Collier, eds. Williston, VT: Blackwell Publishers, 2005. 494 pp.

The contributions to the current issue of Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift is dedicated to "Cosmopolitanism." It includes research from the project "KOSMOPOLIT," with participating scholars from the universities of Stockholm, Lund, & Malmo. The disciplines involved are mainly political science & social anthropology. Several aspects of cosmopolitanism are discussed, particularly its widespread nature due to increased travel & migration, as well as media growth. Also, the contrasting aspects of "bottom-up" & "top-down" cosmopolitanism are presented. A. Barral

This overview article discusses recent developments in the study of cosmopolitanism, with an emphasis on the two major dimensions of culture & politics, it is pointed out that since the end of the Cold War, there has been a surge of interest in the political aspects of cosmopolitanism, but that the relationship between the cultural & political senses of the notion of cosmopolitanism has mostly been given little attention. A comparison is suggested between cosmopolitanism & nationalism -- the latter is widely understood to occur in forms of varied cultural density. The article also raises the problem of the social distribution of cosmopolitanism. It is pointed nut that while cosmopolitanism has often been understood to be in large part an elite (& male) orientation, more recent studies point to more diverse loci in the social structure. References. Adapted from the source document.

Anthropological notions of borders as spatial, social, &/or cultural discontinuities are investigated, discussing differences in the notions of political, cultural, natural, & social boundaries. Current anthropological interpretations of cultural boundaries perceive the muddling, rather than the maintenance, of cultural discontinuities. The distinct approaches of multiculturalists & interculturalists with regard to cultural discontinuity are reviewed; it is noted that multiculturalism utilizes cultural differences as a means of resistance against hegemonic structures. Contrary to Samuel P. Huntington's (1996) argument that cultural differences have replaced political & ideological attitudes, the increase of boundary-crossing individuals has brought disparate cultures into contact. It is concluded that anthropologists should investigate the relationship between society & actual national borders, the interplay between social & cultural discontinuities, & the viability of the notion of global homogenization. 2 Photographs, 25 References. Adapted from the source document.