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?
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?
Alex V.
Tsing defines her notion of frontier as "an imaginative project capable of molding both places and processes" (pg 32). What does she mean?
Tiffany
How do you think that this problem on nature affects globalization?
Chrsity
Consider the "three-species relationship" between bees, honey trees, and people the author discusses on page 181. Do we have anything similar to this in the U.S.? Would Americans be open to this sort of cooperative system, or not? Why?
Ian
I saw in chapter 5 the set-up for why the exploitation of the forests would be so devastating. Does this help us to understand the importance of the social-natural landscape? And at the end of the chapter she talks about this new concept of the 'gap'. Is the exploitation of this social-natural landscape one of these gaps? Where and who is making this change in perspective? How can we use this term to help us understand globalization? (I was having trouble seeing how "An ethnography of global connection is impossible without this tool" (202).
LB
How is the idea of a global climate flawed? How do the ideas of knowledge and information discussed earlier in the text relate to (and possibly confuse) this global climate?
Amanda P.
Cultivated and Wild, Subsistance Economies and Market Economies, Farm and Forest. These three sets of dichotomies are arranged by Tsing to showcase gaps in seemingly opposite categories of global processes. Do you think these gaps are important to study? Do they seem at odds with one another?
Hannah
how does the example of the marlboro man exemplify what we have been talking about in terms of cultural odor, and the negative effects of americanization.
Zach F.
Tsing speaks to the event where a conference held inside the capital of a nation, was important to those outside the capital, but not to those within. Do we see this type of event in our own states? Nation? Does conscience not come into play when these decisions are made?
Natalie
Does Tsing do an effective job of being the "hair in the flour" through writing this book?
Amanda B.
Does nature have an affect on globalization flows? How do products derive from natural objects play into commodity flows?
Zach N.
Is global climate change actually global?
Gavin
Tsing mentions that "Attention to friction opens the possibility of an ethnographic account of global interconnection." Why do you think that this importance to learn about plants struck the English so poorly, in other words just wanting to learn from everyone else?
Shannon
What role did the youth play in Indonesia? Why do youth play a powerful role in movements across the globe?
Lizzy
Originally, I thought that friction was a conflict/difference between people, but on page 85 Tsing explains that friction can also be a conflict within one person. What are some examples of this type of friction?
Julie
I was struck by Ahmad's phrase, "every movement has a sound" (116). It seems obvious once it's said, but I think consequences are often not fully considered. What gets in the way of people view nature as an ethical responsibility on a global scale?