Global-local interface in ethnography

The presentation of cultures and lifestyles of people in ethnographic writing is greatly influenced by the-major paradigms in the discipline of sociology and social anthropology. For long, ethnography remained confined to 'holistic descriptions' of cultures and ways of life of people representing 'little tradition' situated in territorially defined settings. Over time, there has been widespread acceptance of heuristic potential of post-modernism as a paradigm and the indelible impact that globalisation as a force has on political, economic, and social relations of local cultures. Against this backdrop, sociologists and social anthropologists have had to shift focus from the elements specific to the culture being written about to juxtaposing local elements with global processes. The present essay seeks to trace the trajectory and explore the juxtapositions of the local elements with global processes in ethnographic writings.