Autor: Thomas Hylland Eriksen

The present era, which can rightly be labelled the Anthropocene, is often characterised by references to global crises or challenges facing humanity as a whole today. In this paper, I argue that the metaphor of overheating can be a useful common denominator to the main crises of globalisation, as it calls attention to accelerated change and a heightened level of activity in the realms of economy, environmental change and communication; and one may similarly, metaphorically, speak of the quest for shared traffic rules on a global roadmap where traffic is growing by the minute. Anthropologists and other social scientists are in a unique position to make sense of the current global situation. It is crucial to understand local life-worlds and cultural diversity in order to come to terms with the overheated global situation in a constructive way.

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