Ethnic and cultural diversity have become part of people’s everyday experience in most parts of the world. At the same time, transnational communication is increasing, and physical distance is becoming less important in many spheres of life. A globalized and constantly changing business world, increasingly affected China and other emerging economies outside the western world, brings about new social, cultural, economic and political challenges. This demands a heightened sense of understanding anthropological issues of culture and identity-formation in a global economy.

The course will offer anthropological and sociological perspectives for understanding and analyzing culture, identity and social relations, with a focus on economic issues and international business. It will focus on how social practices of trade, reciprocity, tourism, consumerism and shopping contribute to form, confirm and re-shape identity, cultural meaning and social relationships in a globalized world. Through anthropological theory and practice, including fieldwork, students will gain an insight into how cultural values, norms and traditions in a society impact the way people interact and communicate, trade, and relate to one another. They will also gain insight into how people understand themselves and others in a consumer society much influenced by marketing, where successful marketing is much dependent on knowledge about target groups' cultural ideas.

Geographically, the course will include examples from many parts of the world, but it has an empirical focus on studies of China and Scandinavia.