Global vs. Heritage. Case Studies from fashion system, tourism, urban activism

Maria Cristina Marchetti, Associated Professor of Political Sociology and Sociology of European Integration at Sapienza University of Rome (Department of Political Science) focused her speech in Covilhã (Portugal), during the Learning Mobility of our project "Cultural Studies in Business", on one of the core topics of our learning process which is "Culture" making a confrontation titled: "Global Culture versus Cultural Heritage crossing fashion system and urban activism"

Here the abstract of the speech of our General Coordinator.

Abstract

Literature on globalization between the beginning of the eighties and the end of nineties focused on the birth of a global culture, more or less homogeneous, inspired by the Western culture and its lifestyle and by the capitalistic model. A mainstream culture capable of destroying minority and local cultures, with interesting points of contact with postmodern thought (Jameson, 2007).

But the other face of the coin was the growth of a request for cultural recognition, identity in some cases ethnicity; the search for boundaries - material and immaterial - that set limits to the directions of the globalization process towards the future and the unknown.

The lecture will focus on the notion of Time and Space and as a consequence, on the notion of memory and identity. Moving from case studies these concepts will be applied to fashion system, tourism and urban activism.