Ethnicity, Inc. / John L. Comaroff and Jean Comaroff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Comaroff, John L., 1945-

Contributor:

Comaroff, Jean.

Series:

Chicago studies in practices of meaning

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnicity.

Ethnicity--Economic aspects.

Ethnicity--Economic aspects--South Africa.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

234 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Summary:

In Ethnicity, Inc., John L. and Jean Comaroff explore a range of intriguing, disturbing, even absurd phenomena to analyze a new moment in the history of human identity: its rampant commodification. Ethno-theme parks; Native American casinos; Scotland the brand; a world religion declared to be intellectual property; San "Bushmen" with patent rights potentially worth millions of dollars; nations acting as commercial enterprises; and the growth of marketing firms that target specific ethnic populations are just some of the diverse examples that fall under the Comaroffs' incisive scrutiny. Through them, they trace the contradictory effects of neoliberalism as it transforms identities and social being across the globe. This is a penetrating account of the ways in which ethnic populations are remaking themselves in the image of the corporation -while corporations coopt ethnic practices to open up new markets and regimes of consumption. Intellectually rigorous but leavened with wit, Ethnicity, Inc. is a powerful, highly original portrayal of a new world being born in a tectonic collision of culture, capitalism, and identity.

Contents:

Prologue

Three or Four Things about Ethno-futures

Questions of Theory

Commodifying Descent, American-style

A Tale of Two Ethnicities

Nationality, Inc. ; Divinity, Inc. ; and Other Futures.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226114729

0226114724

9780226114712

0226114716

OCLC:

256534500