Challenging the view that globalization signifies a 'clash' of cultures, this book here develops friction in its place as a metaphor for the conflicting social interactions that make up our contemporary world. It shows how creative cultural differences are in the grip of worldly encounter, and how it is overlooked in theories of the global.

Not confined to a village, a province, or a nation, the social drama of the Indonesian rainforest includes local and national environmentalists, international science, North American investors, advocates for Brazilian rubber tappers, UN funding agencies, mountaineers, village elders, and urban students, among others - all combining in unpredictable, messy misunderstandings, but misunderstandings that sometimes work out. Providing a portfolio of methods to study global interconnections, Tsing shows how curious and creative cultural differences are in the grip of worldly encounter, and how much is overlooked in contemporary theories of the global.

Preface ix
Introduction 1

PART I: Prosperity
"Better you had brought me a bomb, so I could blow this place up" 21

Chapter 1: Frontiers of Capitalism 27
"They communicate only in sign language" 51
Chapter 2: The Economy of Appearances 55

PART II: Knowledge
"Let a new Asia and a new Africa be born" 81

Chapter 3: Natural Universals and the Global Scale 88
"Dark rays" 113
Chapter 4: Nature Loving 121
"This earth, this island Borneo" 155
Chapter 5: A History of Weediness 171

PART III: Freedom
"A hair in the flour" 205
Chapter 6: Movements 213
"Facilities and incentives" 239
Chapter 7: The Forest of Collaborations 245
Coda 269
Notes 273
References 297
Index 313