This text features a description and analysis of the distinctive social habitats that arise from the interpretation of globalization and local cultures. Through in-depth case studies of South Asian, East African, Melanesian and European societies, the contributors provide an analysis of the formation and expression of local identities and of the affective self-constitution of social agents. A key issue is the increase in scale and fragmentation of social relations which forces individuals and communities into an increasingly outward orientation, and initiates a process of cultural redefinition and social realignment. The effects of colonialism on identity are examined in the chapters on communalism in Sri Lanka, Indian untouchables, cargo cults in New Guinea and the substitution of food exchange for cannibalism in Kaluana. The experience of belonging to cultural diaspora is then explored, focusing on Italians in London and south Asians in East Africa. Narratives allow individuals to speak for themselves and create a self-consciousness of how they are linked to global "cultural streams" and to specific localities.
Finally the book examines some of the defining experiences of modernity, specifically how individuals in industrial capitalist societies have come to see their identity as dependent on modern forms of industrial, public sector work.