Identity destabilised: living in an overheated world

Review "Accelerated change may be a general characteristic of human life today, but the diverse and multi-facetted studies in this volume nevertheless document a significant variety of perceptions, reflections and agency in response to this volatile situation. They thereby demonstrate the great value of the 'slow' science of ethnography in an 'overheated' world." ― Karen Fog Olwig, University of Copenhagen''This provocative and ethnographically diverse volume illuminates the complexities that shape attempts to reconcile social belonging and self-consciousness in today’s world. It makes a timely contribution towards bringing identity back into conversation with the dynamics of social reproduction and rapid change.'' ― Noel Dyck, Simon Fraser University Product Description We are living in a new epoch: the Anthropocene, where the world is overheated by human activity, driven too fast and filled too full, uneven and unequal. This collection explores the question of identity in this new world, looking at the consequences of rapidly accelerating change on social and personal identities and providing a concrete set of perspectives on how people conceive their selves and belonging in the twenty-first century. Featuring examinations of the Phiippines, Israel, Australia, the Cape Verde Islands, and Afghanistan, the book studies changes generated by rapid industrialization, forced return of migrants, sudden population growth, and the touristification of local cultures.   About the Author Thomas Hylland Eriksen is professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo and president of the European Association of Social Anthropologists. Elisabeth Schober is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo and  the author of Base Encounters: The US Armed Forces in South Korea.