Alex P.
"Frontiers are deregulated because they arise in the interstitial spaces made by collaborations among legitimate and illegitimate partners: armies and bandits; gangsters and corporations; builders and despoilers. They confuse the boundaries of law and theft, governance and violence, use and destruction" (P. 27). What does this say about how we socially construct space? Is this method effective? Necessary?
Christy
The author's friends told her that the Dayaks could identify the Madurese by smelling them. How does this literal odor relate to the concept of cultural odor we have previously discussed?
Julie
Similar to how Condry uses battles as a metaphor to describe the interactions between hip hop cultures, Tsing uses friction as a metaphor for the interactions that inspire movement and change on a transnational level. What are the similarities and differences between these two models?
Amanda P.
The concept of social justice integrated into the conversation about Universality is one I found particularly interesting. The universal is "at the heart of contemporary humanist projects: Scientists, economic reformers, and social justice advocates all appeal to the universal. What can we take concerning Universality from Friction so far? Is it at odds with social justice or any previous conversations of localization, borders, etc?
Ian
The most common places that friction seems to occur is the periphery, at least that is where issues are both most contested and obscured. Are peripheries gaining importance in understanding globalization? Do they have a bigger impact than centers because of the ease at which they get attention?
Amanda B.
Can a "frontier" or an undiscovered area be affected by transnationalism?
Shannon
In the examples prosperity formulated by friction there is a clear winner and loser. How does this relate to our discussion about movements generating inequalities?
Hannah
It seems that the books we have read on transnationalism up until now, had only negative effects if we chose to see them as negative, what can be said about the capitalistic behaviors of countries and companies causing "friction" in other countries, what are the consequences?
LB
How has the new global age of mass media and information conveyance come into play in cases such as Bre-X? How does this add to the global market?
James
What does the Bre-X case tell us about globalization? Is worldwide finance really a myth, allowing only stronger countries and investors to prosper off of smaller countries?
Zach N.
Is universals another, possibly more intricate, word for globalization? Does it apply to glocalization?
Tiffany
On opage 25 the author says "culture never sits still", what do you think the author meant by this? Would you agree with this statement?
Natalie
Do you agree with Tsing's point on page 25 that "culture never sits still; is just nostalgia to speak out for what is being lost"?
LaKeisha
Why is there confusion on what is legal and illegal? Why isn't this made clear?
Gavin
Do you think this “odor” that is passed down from generation to generation within his Kalawan’s friends was socially constructed? Do you think people in the United States can “smell” the differences between the people they are around if they have been taught to dislike certain types of people?
Lizzy
What are at the edges of frontiers? What creates frontiers? What are examples of frontiers involving things that we are familiar with?
Amanda P.
It seems that "stories" play an important role in transnational and transregional movements in chapter two. From the Bre-X story, to the Frontier story, the anecdotes invite individuals to "believe in something that doesn't exist" (68). How does this relate to imagined communities and how might these "stories" influence movement and transregional activity?
Stephanie
Within Chapter 2, the author looks at the Bre-X story, and how such an event could have happened. The author seems to imply the “spectacle” that stood behind finding gold in such undiscovered land, emphasizing the exotic appeal that such globalization had. In your opinion, was much of the “mystery and drama that kept Bre-X alive” a result of the location and resulting exoticism of the Kalimantan forests?
Julie
I was struck by Tsing's story of being groped while hitching a ride with some "frontier men" (39). She seems to use this as one specific example that illustrates how confusion between rape and wild sex is "productive in sponsoring the emergence of men driven to profit," (41) and then the confusion and frontier continually fuel each other. Do you agree that the frontier of capitalism makes a contribution to the aggression of these men?
Stacey
Why do bureaucrats recognize no localisms and the world is a fronteir to them?