William Mazzarella on Globalizes Mediation

          In “Culture, Globalization, Mediation”, William Mazzarella analyzes how mediation has become a groundwork for contemporary social culture. Mazzarella argues that after the emergence of globalization there is a need for a re-evaluation of mediation in Anthropology. He believes that the globalized society is tied to mediation. Mazzarella sees mediation as a central phenomenon in today’s world and society. William Mazzarella argues that with globalization, identity of the local was complicated, and thus mediation and media became a way of understanding cultural identity.

            Mazzarella sees the globalization and media as interacting in a contradictory fashion. On one hand mediation in a globalized world creates culture, but on the other hand, diminishes it. This tension increases in a more contemporary world. As anthropologists, Mazzarella believes we should look to what creates cultural value, and he suggests ritual media as a key aspect as media can be seen as a structure that controls social life. In the contemporary world, mediation is the means through which the social world is created. Thus, Mazzarella calls for Anthropologists to acknowledge the significance of mediation.

            Mazzarella recognizes that in contemporary society, new technologies can create complications with the positive aspects of mediation. Media can be used in a negative manner, as seen in Neo-imperialism. Anthropologists are wary of how others are portrayed in contemporary media. Also studies show that people can take a general message and recreate it as a message for themselves. Clearly media and mediation is a powerful tool in the new world.

The strength of mediation is furthered by Mazzarella’s argument that globalization actually relates to the manufacturing of position and the portrayal of culture. Through the process of globalization, people become more aware of representations of self and others. Furthermore, with globalization, people deal with reflexivity as it relates to media. Mazzarella sees media as a strict tool but also sees media as deeply intimate, as it is a process of self-recognition. Mediation is again positioned as a two-fold concept, that both distances and draws closer the self to ones own reality.

Reference Cited:

Mazarella, William

2004 Culture, Globalization, Mediation. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:345-367.